Thursday Night Prayer & Word | Radah Church | Walking in the Presence of God | Apostle Mike Woods

Well, praise the Lord and hallelujah, glory to his great name.

I want to welcome everyone that's joining us live tonight.

Welcome into our Thursday night prayer and teaching service.

Listen, I'm so excited to teach the word tonight, but before I do, I really want to take a moment to pray for you. You know, this is This is a crazy year already, and then this time of year, a lot of people are challenged or going through a lot of things, but I believe that God, hallelujah, the Bible said the very effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man, it says that it availeth much. And so as we pray tonight, I believe that we're going to get a return on how we bombard heaven. We're going to get a return on what we look toward heaven for. So let's pray tonight.

Father, in Jesus' name, hallelujah.

We give you glory for another opportunity to come into your house, another opportunity to give your name the praise.

And Father, we glorify you with everything that's in us.

And we decree and declare, Lord, that no weapon formed against us tonight can prosper. Father, we thank you for your goodness.

We thank you, Lord, for your grace. We thank you, Lord, for your favor.

And Father, we acknowledge tonight that we're nothing without you.

God, it's in you that we live, it's in you that we move, and Father, it's in you that we have our being. And Father, we give you the glory tonight. Hallelujah. Because beside you there is no other. And Father, as I pray tonight, I'm praying for people everywhere, and I decree and declare, God, ish katabansi ebrey ko rababan soto rabaki.

God, as we open up the heavens tonight I decree according to your word, God.

You said whatsoever we loose on earth, Father, you said it will be loosed in the heavens. So Father, tonight in the name of Jesus, God, we loose healing and deliverance, God, and we bind up sickness and disease. God, we're coming after high blood pressure tonight. We're coming after diabetes. Oh God, we're coming after everything not like you. And Father, we bind up tonight the spirit spirit of infirmity.

And according to your word, God, we decree and declare that healing and deliverance is the children's bread.

We decree and declare, Lord, that tonight your people are being healed by your stripes in the mighty name of Jesus. Oh, shibansa korabamaman saya. Oh God, we bind up the coronavirus, we bind up COVID-19, and God, we loose healing in our land. For your word declares, "If my people," "which are called by my name, if they humble themselves and pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways." God, you said in your word you'd hear from heaven. And God, you said you'd heal our land. So Father, tonight in the name of Jesus, God, we're asking you to open up the heavens and heal our land. God, God, somebody's on a ventilator tonight fighting for their life. God, but Father, in Jesus' name, I release angels at my charge, God, to go to that hospital. And God, bring healing. God, bring deliverance. Make them whole now, God, in the name of Jesus. God, somebody's fighting dementia. Somebody's fighting arthritis. God, in the name of Jesus, God, let them be be healed now.

I release miracles now.

I release deliverance according to your word, God. Father, you're Jehovah Rapha, you're God our healer. So Father, we declare tonight, God, God, that you heal us, God, that you deliver us, and God, you make us whole. And Father, we come against diabetes now. We speak to the pancreas and we command the pancreas to function properly, Father, in Jesus' name. Oh God, heal the diabetic in the name of Jesus. Let your blood flow, let your healing virtue flow, let it flow tonight, God, in the name—

oh God—

of Jesus, our King and our God. And Father, we give you praise. We come against addictions tonight. We bind up addictions, addictions to drugs, addictions to alcohol, addiction to sex, God, and fornication. God, we come against every soul tie, and we decree and declare tonight that by your stripes, God, your people are being healed. We come against the soul tie tonight, and we— break the tie, God. We come against adultery in the name of—

oh God, deliver in the name of Jesus.

That man that's bound to pornography, that can't stay off the internet, can't stay off their phone. God, we bind up that spirit now, the spirit of perversion, the spirit of fornication, and we declare liberty in the name of Jesus. God, set us free, Lord. You said in your word, he who the Son sets free is free indeed. So God, we declare liberty and freedom right now in Jesus' name. God, we praise you for the victory and we give you glory now, God. Hallelujah, that our worst days are over and we declare that these are the best days of our life. We come against pain in the joints, pain in the body, pain in the back, pain in the legs, pain in the feet. God, we decree now that migraines are being bound in the name of Jesus. God, we thank you for victory. We come against cancer. In the name of Jesus, God, we know you can heal cancer. God, touch lupus, touch tuberculosis, touch heart disease. And in the name of Jesus, we give you the glory, we give you the honor, we give you the praise. We say yes, Lord. Yes to your will, God. Yes to your way. Somebody watching me tonight, your deliverance is at the door. I dare you, clap your hands. And open up your mouth and just say, "Yes, Lord." God, we say yes. Yes to your will. Yes to your way. Yes to your plan. We say yes, Lord. God, in a wicked generation, in a wicked world, when everybody's doing their own thing, God, tonight we lift our voice and we say, "Yes, Lord." We still say yes. We still say yes. We still say yes. Yes, we still say yes. We clap our hands, we open our mouth, God, and we give you the glory, we give you the honor, we give you the praise. We still got a yes. I know we said yes last week, but our soul, God, it still says yes. We found another yes, we found another yes. I know I told you yes this morning, but God, I found another yes tonight. I say yes, Lord. Because somebody ought to tell him yes. There's a yes to be blessed. There's a yes to be blessed. There's a yes to be blessed.

There's a yes.

Oh, oh, yes in my soul. Yes in my body. Yes in my mind. Yes, he'll meet you in a yes.

So Father, we give you the glory and we thank you, God, that you hear our cry. Oh God, that you hear our cry tonight, and we say yes, Lord. Open the windows of heaven, pour us out blessing. We don't have room enough to receive. Do something unusual. Do something man cannot do, and we'll give you praise. Father, we thank you tonight that we shall experience the light, the illumination, and the intelligence of the Holy Ghost.

God, we thank you that somebody under the sound of our voice, that wayward husband, that wayward wife, we thank you that by the power of the anointing, they They will be saved. They will be delivered. God, let somebody tune into this live tonight that's looking for victory in the name of Jesus. I pray, God, that by your anointing, you would remove the burden, and God, you would destroy the yoke. I declare tonight that by your power, the yoke is being destroyed and the burden is being removed in the mighty name of Jesus. I'm thanking you tonight for our children.

I decree and declare that young people and the youth of our day, they're being born again.

They're getting a mind to live right. They're getting a mind for holiness. I'm thanking you for revival, God. God, send revival to our city. Send revival to our state, God. Send revival to our church, Lord. Send revival. Quicken our spirit. Cause us to be alive again. God, we decree and declare that revival— Revival! Send revival, God. Send revival, God. We're crying out to you, God. Revive us again, oh God. Revive us again, oh God. Revive us again, oh God. Oh God, let your fire, let it consume us, God. And will forever give you the praise, and the glory and the honor shall be thine. Father, let your word go out in such a way that the weak will be made strong, that the poor will be made rich, that the discouraged would be encouraged, that doubters would leave with faith.

God, that those that are undelivered would be delivered.

Those that need to be filled with the Holy Ghost will be filled with the Spirit. God, I'm thanking you, Lord, for revival.

Let it start in this place.

God, I thank you for the altars being filled with youth and men and women alike, God, being saved and being filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. God, revive us with fire. God, consume everything that's not like you, and God will give give you the praise. God will give you the glory. God will give you the honor.

In Jesus' name, bless your word tonight. In your name we pray.

Amen.

And thanks be to God. The Lord bless your hearts. Listen, don't you dare scroll. There is a word from the Lord. Praise the Lord. Glory to God. I'm so great. I feel the anointing of Jesus in this place tonight. Tonight, and I decree and declare that your life will never be the same after this word on tonight. Listen, I challenge you. For those of you who are uninitiated, I am Dr. Mike Woods. Welcome to our live service. Glory to the name of God. We're streaming live from Rudder Church tonight. This is our Thursday night worship experience where we pray and teach the word of the living God. So I want to challenge every person under the sound of my voice, do me the kind favor and please share this teaching. I promise you, you will indeed be blessed.

Glory to God.

I'm sitting with you tonight, so I'm gonna sit my iPad in front of me. Glory to God. Listen, yeah, please do me a favor, y'all share it. And if you're in the room with us tonight, please, uh, check into the church and share this.

Glory to God. I promise you, your life won't be the same after tonight. Glory to God.

Hallelujah. God's going to do something significant in our midst tonight. He's going to move by his power.

Glory to God. Hallelujah. The fire of God is in this room right now. I have been teaching a series, glory to God, because I just believe we got to finish this year strong. And I'm telling you right now, in the days ahead, only the strong will survive. I'm gonna say it again, in the days ahead. And whether you're watching me by YouTube, Facebook, whether you're listening to this by our podcast, however you're watching, I need you to share this because there are people who are on the verge of giving up. Suicide rates are up, glory to God.

Depression rates are up. And you know, whenever we see these kind of numbers rising in the statistics, it means, saints, that that's room for the enemy to come in and really work. The Bible says that the idle mind is the devil's workshop. And when people are depressed, when people are despondent, when people are down, and that idleness opens up their spirit to the enemy to come in and torment them. So I'm believing God tonight that as we share this, that somebody who's going through something, somebody that's in a state of depression, somebody that's maybe at the point of committing suicide will make up their mind that, hey, I'm gonna get it together, I'm gonna pull myself together, and I'm gonna embrace the promises of God in the presence of God, and I'm gonna finish strong.

Glory to God.

So tonight, uh, as another installment of this series, Only the Strong Will Survive, our focal text came for the series from Daniel 11. 31 and 32, and I'm just going to quote the B-qual—

B-claws, I'm sorry. It says, the people that do know their God, they will be strong and they shall do exploits. Glory to God.

So I want you to understand something, that the key to being strong, finishing strong, and surviving the days ahead is going to be knowing God. And I have shared with you that meeting God is not enough, all right?

You got to know him.

Hallelujah! Just touch yourself and say, I gotta know him.

Matter of fact, if you're online right now with us, I want you to type on the screen, I gotta know him. Glory to God! You have to know him.

And religion never really empowers people to know God. I always say I am not a religious man.

I am a man that is passionately in love with Jesus Christ because I know him.

I have a relationship with him. Religious people are still looking for God. And if we're going to be strong, we can't just meet him, we got to know him. How we know him, we must deliberately deliberately. Somebody say deliberately. We must deliberately walk with him. So tonight I want to talk about walking in the presence of the Lord.

Walking in the presence of the Lord.

Listen, don't you dare scroll, because there's so many people that attend church and they never have really walked with God for There are a lot of religious people that do a lot of religious things who have never really walked with God for real.

We're just gonna have a fireside chat about this.

And so you might say, Michael Woods, why is this needed? Well, walking in the presence of God does two things that I know of that I'm very clear they do, not because I read them but because I have experienced them. The first thing that happens when you walk in the presence of God, you have fullness of joy. All right, when you walk in God's presence, your joy is always full. Matter of fact, you got enough joy that flows out of your life to give away. And when I say joy, I'm not just talking about being happy, I'm talking about a state of profitability. A state of bliss, a state in walking in the overflow. The word joy— watch this— comes from the Hebrew word sheya, and it means profit. You ask a businessman to define profit, he's going to tell you what's left over after the expenses of the business have been paid and covered. So God says, I want you living in the fullness where you always got an overflow of joy, of profit and stability, where you're living in a realm where you have more than enough physically and spiritually. You got more than enough, you're— where you can give it away. So the presence gives us fullness of joy. Matter of fact, type that on the screen. Say, the presence of God God gives us fullness of joy. Secondly, it gives us stability. Stability. People who are unstable, people who— oh yeah, oh my God— who in today, out tomorrow, who, glory to the name of God, are unstable psychologically, spiritually, financially, in their marriage, in their relationships— these are people who do not live in the presence of God, because the presence of God always brings stability. Maybe you believe it. Let's, let's— so the presence of God, let's define that. So when we start talking about the presence, the pre-sense, the pre—

before— sense, the intelligence—

watch this— the face, the nearness, the grace, the ability, or the enablement of God. So tonight when I'm talking about walking in the presence, I'm talking about walking in the face of God, and in his face is his eyes, his nose, his mouth, his ears. Come on, church!

Glory to God!

So that means if I'm walking in the presence, I see things the way he sees them. I have sensitivity in the realm of the spirit like he does. I can hear his voice. I can hear as he hears. Oh my God, I speak what he speaks when I'm walking in his presence. I'm near to his ability, I'm near to his essence, I'm near to his grace, and his enablement is always at my disposal. Oh my God, that's big. Wait a minute, so you're telling me, Michael Woods, when I walk in the presence of God that the enablement of God is always at my disposal. Oh, so that means if I find myself in a position of impossibility where I cannot do something that God ordained for me to do, or I'm, I'm unable, that means I have unplugged from the presence. Oh, because I cannot access his enablement. So when I walk in the presence, his enablement is always there.

See, you—

I, I, I know a lot of people who claim to be real deep, who claim to be so on fire and full of prayer but when it comes down to the brass tacks, they do more for themselves than God does for them because they never really stop to realize, okay, let me just lean on the enablement of God to get this done. And because we become accustomed in life to doing things our way God says my enablement is available to you if you just walk in my presence. So let's look at stability real quick. Let's go to Psalm 16:8. Let's go there. Let's look at the Word of God. Can I go to the Word tonight? Let me teach this, glory to God, like I feel it.

Praise God.

Psalm 16. Hallelujah.

Glory to God. I feel Jesus in this place tonight.

I feel the fire of God.

Glory to God.

Hallelujah.

Something's gonna get consumed. Somebody watching is gonna get— there's something in you that's not like God. Sickness, disease, something. God's gonna consume it with his consuming fire tonight. My God. Here, Psalm 16:8.

Let me read that.

The Bible says this: I have set the Lord always before me. Watch this, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. I grew up in the old church.

My heritage is among those who are sanctified. That's why sometimes I get a little loud. Glory to God.

But growing up, praise the name of God, hallelujah, I, I used to love when the mother would break out in the song and say, I shall not, I shall not be moved.

I shall not, I shall not be moved. Just like a tree planted by the waters, I shall not be moved.

Then they would just get down with that thing, but it would, it would do something to me even as a young lad. To hear that song because it said to me that in God there was stability. There was something that would always be consistent. And the scripture says here, number one, we should always— somebody say always. Always. Not when it's convenient, not when we're in trouble, not when— glory to the name of God— somebody's looking. We should always set the Lord before us. Hallelujah. Watch this, because he is at my right hand, which means— watch it— he said, in other words, I want to put my hand in his hand. I'm gonna set— he's always with me, he's always in my corner, his enablement is able to be accessed. And the Bible said, when I do that, watch this, I shall not be moved. Sound like stability to me.

Me.

Sounds like according to the Bible— are y'all hearing this— that if I set God before me and walk with him, I'll have stability. I won't be up and down. I won't be moved. I'll stay with God. My finances will be stable. My emotions will be stable. My physical health will be stable if I walk in the presence of God. I'm telling you, when things come come up where instability is involved, it means, friends, you have unplugged from the presence of God. Lord, help us in this place on tonight.

Glory to God.

Oh, let's look at Psalm 91. Go to Psalms 91 and verse 1. I want to show you stability.

Glory to God.

I'm gonna read this one out in Amplified. The scripture says, he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High watch this— shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty. So when I walk in the presence and dwell in the secret place where God is, when I live in a place where others don't live, when I choose to deport from the flesh and carnality and really walk with God The Bible says I'll have stability and I'll be fixed under the shadow of God. That's powerful stuff. All right, so again, so we see according to scripture, the presence— this is the need. I just want to lay the foundation of why we need to walk in the presence. It gives us stability. Stability is strength. And you listen, in order to finish strong, I'm telling you, you're gonna need the presence of God. And as we go into 2021, it's going to be very important that you go into it walking in the presence of God. God has shown me that 2021 is going to be a year of amazing things, amazing results, amazing manifestations of the Spirit, but you won't experience them if you're not walking in the presence of the Lord. Are we here tonight?

Oh, have mercy, Jesus.

All right, so the other thing I shared— this is the foundation. So the need— we have a need for stability and the fullness of joy. Presence of the Lord gives us that. That's the answer. It's the presence of God. Psalm 16:11 says, thou will show me the path of life in thy thy presence— here we go— is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand— there's that walk again— for his pleasure forevermore. So now I see something else. So first of all, he said, you're gonna show me, open my eyes, let me see the path of life. You're gonna show me something I've never seen, God, because I choose to walk with you, thou will show me. The word show, yada in Hebrew, which means you'll become intimate with me and allow me to inspect the design, the orach in Hebrew, the path of my life when I'm in your presence. Most people live off course because they don't spend no time in the presence of God. Most people are out of the will of God right now because they do not spend time in the will of the Father. So you need to tap into the glory realm so God can show you things about your life and give you fullness of joy. So how do we do this? We do this because we gotta first now set some priorities. I'm getting through this quick quickly. Somebody shout priorities! You got to set God's presence as the top priority in your life. Can I tell you something? That God demands first priority in your life. Let's go to Matthew 6:33. Matthew 6:33 says this— somebody type that on the screen— Matthew 6:33. We should already have on the screen Psalm 16:8. Praise We should also have on the screen, glory be to God, Psalm 91:1, Psalm 16:11. Put on the screen Matthew 6:33. The Bible says, but seek ye first. The word seek there is a Greek word zeteio, which means pursue hard after without uninterrupted focus. That's good. God says, I want you first and foremost to pursue hard after the kingdom. The word first there— watch this, because I'm talking about priorities now. The presence has to be a priority for produce the results that God wants you to produce.

Glory to God.

I need you to hear me. Shemande brie uskatabaise. The word first there is prorizo in Greek. I feel the fire of God here, I'm telling you.

Y'all.

It's paraiso. It means first in time, in place, in order, or importance. It simply means chiefly at the beginning. Paraiso, to put it above everything. Wait a minute, God is saying I need to seek the kingdom, God's presence, the presence of the King. You can't have the kingdom without the King, so I need to seek the presence of the kingdom. First in time. That should be the first thing I do when I wake up. Oh God, it should be in order. It should—

oh my God, it should be before I do anything else.

I need to make this the most important thing in my life. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. See, things become a product of the present. Us. So we got to make the— you know what we do though? You know what we do? You know what we do, saints?

We make things priority, and then all of our actions are geared toward producing things, when that's never how God intended for us to live. Are y'all here?

You got to make him the most important, the most important, the most important. The Holy Ghost, the presence of God, is the most important person on earth, the most important person in your life, and you ought to seek him first. Let's look, let me show you Matthew 18— 8. Let's go to Matthew 8. I'm sorry, not 18, Matthew 8. I hope I got some Bible readers tonight that want to go through the scripture.

Matthew 8, glory to God.

Matthew 8, let's go to 19 and let's read. The Bible says, and a certain scribe came and said unto him, Master, I will follow you wherever you go. Hear this, verse 20. And Jesus said unto him, the foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Verse 21. And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Now wait a minute. Wait a minute, huh? The man first said, Jesus, I'm gonna follow you wherever you go, but let me first go bury my daddy. Wait a minute, I thought you said you're gonna follow him everywhere he go. Jesus wasn't going to bury daddy. Jesus was on an assignment. Matter of fact, in the next couple of verses he said, let the dead bury their dead. So you need to make up in your mind that what's important is doing the will of the Father and walking in the presence of God. Luke, let's go to Luke 14, hallelujah, verses 16 through 26. I'm just going to read Luke 14, hallelujah, glory to God. Luke 14, uh, verses 16 through 26, let's read. Then he said unto him, a certain man have made a great supper and bade many and sent his servant at suppertime to say to them that were bidden, come, for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began—

uh-oh—

to make excuse. That's what we do. See, we'll say God is first in my life, God is the head of my life. We used to have testimony service, glory to God, in our church, and people would say, give it unto God, who is first in my life. Bishop St. Saints and friends. But you know what, at the end of the day, glory to God, most of the time people who said that, they put the bishop, the saints, and the friends before God every time. Because let me tell you something, if God was really first, you would give him the first priority, the first importance. There's no way you could buy into this craziness of not being in church. When God is first, you understand the value of meaning. Well, I ain't going to church, I ain't gonna get no corona. Listen, the church is the safest place on earth. If God is there and the power and the presence of God is in the church and the fire of God is in a place, you can't get corona. I'm just— my faith is crazy. I'm— listen, I'm gonna serve God and I'm gonna do what he tells me to do. I'm not gonna make excuses. And some people, they were waiting for something like corona so they can stay at home. The devil is a liar. Glory to the name of him and his grandmama. You need to be in the house of God. And stop making excuses. An excuse is just a well-planned lie. It is a prelude to failure. Okay, let me keep reading. Uh, the first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground and I need to go see about my ground. I pray that you excuse me. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Verse 19, another said, I have bought 5 oxen and I go to prove them. I pray you excuse me. And another said, I am married a wife and therefore I cannot come. Wait a minute, bring your wife too, man. What you making an excuse for? Gloria, both of y'all need to be in the church. Both of y'all need to be following God and walking after the Spirit. Oh God, how many times have you made excuses why you couldn't study?

Oh, I got to go to work, I got to cook, I got to take care of my husband, I got to take care of my wife.

I gotta see about my children. God says you got to make him the priority so he can give you the strength and stability to take care of that other stuff. Let me keep reading. Verse 21: So that servant came and showed his lord these things. The master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways ways and hedges.

Here we go.

And compel them to come in, that my house may be full. For I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. Watch this. Those that make excuses and will not make the presence of God priority, he said you won't get to taste of his supper.

There's some things you can't get being religions.

There's some things you cannot get being frozen and cold and not being connected to fire. You got to walk in the fire daily. You got to walk under the auspices of the Holy Ghost daily so you can eat at God's table. Stop making excuses, man. Okay, I'm gonna keep moving. He— I'm just showing you how it's got to be a priority. I'm not going to take you here, but I'm gonna show you how in Luke 10:38— you can read this later— Luke 10, verses 38 through 42. Mary and Martha. Now, Mary had her priorities straight. Martha, in the text, was totally out of line. She wanted to do things her way. So let me tell you something: when you're walking in the presence of God and he's the priority, you don't do it your way, you do it his way, because your ear is glued to his mouth and you follow after him.

We got to practice the presence. What am I saying to you tonight?

I'm saying to you that you got to live a presence-driven life. You got to live it.

It's got—

your life has to be driven by the principles that surround the presence. And really, you got to count the cost. Here's the other part of is, cuz when you start talking about I'm going to walk in the presence, it's going to cost you something. Oh boy. And this is what we don't like, and this is why a lot of people don't do it. In Luke 14:28, I'm not going to make you go there, but the Bible say if you set your hand to the plow, you must first count up the cost. Who, who would try to build something without first counting up the cost? Calculate what you got to to do. When you really get a revelation of what you got to do in this life as a human and how big your purpose is, you quickly understand. I know me, I'm so clear. I had a meeting this morning and the numbers I was talking about, I'm so clear I have no ability to do that. But I am enabled by the presence always being available to me. Glory to God that there's nothing that God leads me to do I cannot accomplish. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? I don't care if it's 10 million, if it's 100 million, if it's 10 billion. If God leads me into the deal, he has the resources to enable me to accomplish what I'm trying to do. But if I'm leaning on my own self, my own ability, and looking at my bank account and say, okay, well, I need 12.5 million to even try to do this, glory to the name of God, but I got this amount I need to understand that if God gave me the mind to do it, I need him. So I got to walk with him. Anytime I get in the flesh, I'm gonna miss it.

Yeah, I'm not gonna be able to do it. So I need his resources to perform it.

So you got to count the cost. Watch this.

You know what? Here's what I know. Many are called, called, but few are chosen. There are many people that go to church, go through the motions, but it's the chosen ones that's going to make God a priority because they realize they can't do it without him, and they're gonna walk with him every day, and they're going to include him in every part. And they're not just going to pray a religious prayer, they're going to listen for his voice, they're going to draw close to him and get up close and personal and near his face.

Remember, walking in the presence is getting near him and assessing his enablement.

They're going to trust that God has their back in everything they say and do. Oh my God, see, the called— called people don't do that. Chosen people do. Called people just go through the motions, mimic other people, you know, copy what they've seen in church, and they want to feel good, look good, jump, shout, be religious. But chosen people walk with God every day. They get near his face because they understand I'm chosen for something bigger than what my flesh can handle. So I gotta walk with God so I can accomplish this.

I cannot accomplish this in my flesh. I cannot accomplish this with my earthly intelligence and my aptitude and psychological existence that I have carnally.

I need God. Oh my God. We got to do it. We got to do it through him. And an example is Moses, because see, when God calls you into something, he always calls you out of something.

See, Moses could not have led the children of Israel out of Egypt if he would have stayed in Egypt. He had to leave Egypt. He had to leave the ways of Egypt, the mentality of Egypt. He had to leave Pharaoh's house. And guess what? He had everything he needed in Pharaoh's Pharaoh's house.

Yeah, the Israelites, even though they were slaves, had everything they needed in Pharaoh's house.

But in order to move into the promise, they had to follow the cloud, which is the presence of God. You can find this in Exodus 33, verses 11 through, through 23.

I'm not going to take you there, I don't have time.

But listen, Exodus 33:11-23, you'll find Moses understood that we must follow the cloud. Every time the cloud moved, the Bible said Moses and the children of Israel moved. What am I saying to you? Follow the cloud and not the crowd. Most people are trying to follow the crowd, trying to do what everybody else is doing, but you better follow the presence because it's the presence of God that's going to lead you into the promise. And every time they stopped following the cloud, it created a delay in their life. If they would have followed the cloud from the time they left Egypt, every single time— watch this— they could have entered into the Promised Land on foot 12 days. It took them 40 years because they feared the confrontation that came along with following the cloud. They feared the Moabites, the Jesu— Jesucites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir. So if, if the cloud was leading them in that direction, they went another way, which created a long delay. And some of you are delayed in your life right now, but I prophesy to you tonight that as you hear me teach this word, that God is eliminating the delays in your life. He's eliminating the process in your life, and you're going to begin to follow the cloud and not the crowd. Some of you, some of you 50 years old, 51 years 55, 60, and you're still concerned what people think about you. Listen, you ought to be living for the audience of one, and that's God and God alone. You ought to be following the clown and not the crowd. Matter of fact, I want to go to this one. Go to Exodus— oh my God— 34. Exodus 34.

I want to go to this one.

I'm trying to get through this tonight, y'all. Hallelujah. Praise God. I hope y'all learning something. Exodus 34, let's look at verse 28. 28, ha! The Bible says, whoo, I love the Lord. Oh God, I love him.

I love—

he's so good. Exodus 28, and we're going to read through verse 33. This is powerful, man. And he was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights. He did neither eat bread nor drink water, and he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant and the Ten Commandments.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait.

He was there 40 days, 40 nights.

He did not eat bread or water. Let me let you in on a secret. The presence of God often suspends the rules or the needs of the flesh.

The flesh continued to live because it was in the presence. It didn't need to eat because all it needed was the glory of God. See, when you really in the presence of God, God has to remind you to eat. He has to remind you, glory to God, to do things that entertain your flesh. You have to deliberately create a balance because it's so good. This man was in the presence of God 40 days and 40 nights, and he didn't eat anything. What kind of commitment? What kind of— he was in God's face. He was near God. He was near God's enablement. God enabled him to survive.

He said, and he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. Lord, I love this.

Verse 29: And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tabernacles of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wished not that the skin of his face shone while he—

oh my God. While he talked with him. Listen, Moses had a glory. It was something different about him because he had been in the presence of the Lord. People, people walk up— and I'm not bragging on me, so—

but people walk with me all the time, something different about you.

It's God. All I can say is God.

There's a glow on you.

It's God.

I'm telling you, I've seen it on others. I know when you've been in the presence of God. Listen, there's something different about your life when you've been with God. There's a presence, that residue of God's presence that exudes out of you, of God's fire that exudes out of you onto others.

Oh my God. Verse 31: And Moses called unto them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him.

And Moses talked with him. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh, and he gave them commandment all the Lord had spoken with him in Sinai.

And till Moses had done speak with them, he put a veil on his face.

He covered his face because his face had so much glory on it.

Touch yourself, say, I gotta walk in the presence.

See, Moses, according to the Hebrews that picked up this in Hebrews 11, 7:24-25.

Moses, he denied the pleasures of his flesh for a season so that he can enjoy the glory of God. You got to deny yourself.

See, it's a cause— purity is an important piece to walking in the presence because God is holy. I'm gonna say it again, he holy. And you know, I've gotten to a point in my walk with God, I've done some stuff in my life that I know didn't please God.

I would say sanctified through the Holy Ghost and done some stupid stuff because I was walking in my flesh. Got out of the spirit, started walking in the flesh. And when I look back in retrospect, I created a lot of delays getting from under the cloud and moving in my flesh.

And if I had it to do over, I'd do things differently. But Lord, let me go through it so I can tell you what it do to you. And I'm at a point in my life now, if I think something wrong— now nonetheless, if I do something wrong, it bothers me.

I'm telling you, because I don't want to miss God, because sin separates us from God.

The Bible said your iniquity separates you. So you can't walk in the presence if you're walking in sin. You can't serve two masters. Either you love the one or hate the other. You got to put a difference between that which is holy and unholy. Leviticus 10:10, that which is clean and unclean. You want the presence, you ought to live your life— if the Bible says that the holy symbol of the Holy Spirit has many times been a dove Dove.

So let's say you had a real dove on your shoulder that represented the presence of God. You ought to live like if you made one wrong move, the dove would fly away.

I want you to see that like that. When you walking in the presence and you make wrong moves that he is not pleased with, the presence lifts. Oh Lord, have mercy.

I don't ever want that in my life. I know I need God. Touch yourself and say, just give me God.

Type that on the screen. Say, just give me God. Just give me God. And live like you want to keep him.

Watch this. The more you walk with him, the closer you to him, the more you learn his ways, the, the nearer you get to his face. But you gotta start and make him a priority. I'm almost done, y'all. Hallelujah. So I count the cost, I set priority, I did, I give God first place. So here's my last piece to this. I think, I think I I think, yeah, I'm gonna stop on this one because I'm running out of time. There's something required to bring the presence into your world. I told you, you gotta live a principle-driven life around the presence, a presence-driven life where the principles of the presence take priority. That's it. A presence-driven life where the principles of the presence take priority.

How do I do that?

I'm glad you asked. I'm glad to tell you.

This is how you do it.

You gotta seek him. Seeking him.

I said it earlier in Matthew 6:33, but I'm gonna elaborate on it deeper.

Let's go to Psalms 27:4. Only one thing should be sought.

I'm gonna say that again. Only one thing should be sought. We be seeking after everything else, but only one thing should be sought. Psalm 27 and verse 4. Hallelujah! Glory to God. Psalm 27:4 says this: One thing I have desired of the Lord. So he said, this is what I desire from God, one thing. This is what the psalmist is saying. And that will I seek after. So I'm gonna seek after this one thing that I desire. David's giving— watch this— that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire in his temple. Wait a minute, he's not talking about this building. He's not talking about the church. He's talking about the house, the presence, the heavens, the kingdom where God lives. Oh, watch. Matter of fact, in Hebrew, the word is bayith in Hebrew, and it means the courts. Hallelujah! The habitation of God, where God lives. Wait a minute, your body is the temple of God, right?

So the Holy Spirit dwells in you, but God the Father dwells in heaven.

So we got God in us and we got God in heaven. You put them two things together, we got God walking with us and we're walking in the presence of God.

Oh my God, he said, I want to dwell in God's body.

That's what bayith literally means, body of the Lord. He said, I will dwell out there. One thing I desire, that I may dwell in the body of God. Oh, I'm not talking about the body of Christ church, I'm talking about the, the literal anthropomorphic body of God, the presence of God, his movement, his head, his arms, his feet. I want to go where he goes. I want to think like he thinks.

I want to talk like—

I want to get in his body. I want his heart. He said that.

He said, watch this, all the days of my life, because if I'm in his body, I can see his beauty. And watch this, if I'm in his body, I can inquire of his temple because I'm in his temple. So he's in me, I'm in him, he's in me, I'm in him. So I gotta seek that, it doesn't just happen.

So you gotta deliberately make that important. And when you get up in the morning, before you lay down tonight, seek to live inside of the body.

So God raptured me out of my carnal and Father, let me live inside of you.

Let me dwell in your body. And watch this, the psalmist said, this is the only thing I want. He's— I want a Bentley, and it's— I want a plane, he's— I want a mansion.

He said, one thing I desire, and I'm gonna seek it, I want to live inside of God. Isn't that massive?

You know how big God is? Is that all of us can move in He's big. He got enough room for everybody to move in.

Boy, I love it.

He got enough room for everybody to move in. How about this? Pull up that U-Haul in this Spirit, pack up your little stuff and let's move out of the flesh and let's move into God's house. Let's move out of religion and let's move in with God. Let's cohabitate with him.

Oh God, I ain't got time. Look, oh God, I can just stay on that all night.

See, require He said, this one thing I desire, this one thing I require.

That's vital.

He mean, I gotta have this.

To say I require this, the sermon is that I can't do nothing without living here. You know, all this stuff you got on my plate, David is saying, I need to live inside of you to perform this.

It's too big, it's too much. Ooh-wee! Just think about when you live in your own house.

That's an atmosphere in your house.

There's a temperature in your house. There's things that happen that go on in your home. It's the same way in God's house. It's fire, it's power, it's resources. It's full of love, it's full of enablement. It's only hard when you're doing it in the flesh. I'm gonna say that one more time. It's only hard when you do it in the flesh. I've been there.

I've done stuff in the flesh.

It was so hard.

It didn't work.

It failed.

But the stuff I've done in him—

listen, every failure I've had was a presence failure first. Every success I've had was a presence success first. I gotta close, y'all. I gotta close. Watch this. When you say— that word desire in Hebrew means vital. And when you say something is vital, what you're saying is, I die without this. Oh boy. Can I get you to realize that you really can't live an abundant life? Jesus said, I came that you might have life, have it more abundantly. You really can't have that more abundantly abundant life without moving in. You gotta move in. You gotta get out of you. So many saints of God are in their own way. You gotta require God as a vital necessity. You got to decide, I need this to exist. Nothing else matters but me having him. So seek literally means to put your mind on it. Uh, Colossians 3, verses 1 and 2. You can go there later, type it on the screen. Colossians 3, verses 1 and 2.

It says, seek things above, higher things, by keeping your mind set on what is above. So he said the way you seek is put your mind on that. Now, I mean, at times during the day our mind drifts, but you got to set your mind in a position. Just like you set your alarm to go off at 8 o'clock, you go to sleep in faith. You know, at 8 o'clock it's gonna go off if you really set it and your phone's charged. It's gonna go off. You got to set your mind on heaven and live your day through heaven's perspective. And not drift off. Put your mind on it because it's vital.

Listen, let me give you an example.

If a person— and I'm gonna close—

if a person is said to be self-seeking— I'll finish this Sunday because this is good—

if a person is said to be self-seeking, hear me, Phew, God have mercy. That means all they think about is themselves all the time.

They're on their mind all the time. Well, if you're seeking God, guess what's on your mind all the time? The Bible said if you keep your mind stayed on him, he'll keep you in perfect peace. Somebody watching tonight, and I'm closing, maybe you're not saved. Saved. Somebody watching us tonight, maybe you're not born again and you say, I want to walk in the presence of God. Maybe you are born again and you are religious. I said, I want more.

I want to move in with God.

I want to learn how to set my mind in the right place so I can get the strength that only comes from the presence of God.

Listen, you could do all of the work you do in your own flesh and, and think you're doing it. And that's why many people get burnt out. I talk to entrepreneurs all the time, well, very wealthy people who do things and they get burnt out because they didn't put God first.

You got to put him first. He's got to be your reason, and it's got to be what he wants you to do. Let me pray. Father, in Jesus' name, I thank you tonight for this word. I pray, dear God, that this word will land on the good ground of every heart and that your people will reap it in due season if they faint not. I decree and declare that no weapon formed against them can prosper. I thank you, God, that you're opening doors and making ways. And Father, I decree and declare, Lord, that you will cause people to walk in your your presence and give them stability, give them fullness of joy, and at your right hand they'll find pleasure forevermore. Thank you, Lord, for seeking people, a loving people that know you and lean upon you. I thank you, God, that we will be strong because we live in your presence. Thank you, Lord, that your presence will have free course and preeminence in our lives. For where the presence of the Lord is, there is liberty. So I thank you for freedom for your people, and I give you praise and glory for it now, in Jesus' name. Amen.

And thank God.

Would you clap your hands and just bless the Lord? Hallelujah.

He's worthy, he's worthy, he's a good God, he's a mighty God.

Listen, whatever you do, make him the priority. Walk in the presence of God, it'll give you stability, which is strength to stand. Hallelujah. And it will give you fullness of joy. Listen, I want to challenge you guys to join us at Rhoda Church. Praise God. God, uh, this coming Sunday. I'm telling you, at 10 AM, I want to challenge you to join us in person. We will be streaming virtually, but there's nothing like being in the house of the Lord. So I want to challenge you to join us and come and spend some time with us. There is the power here, there is a fire here. We've decreed that this house is a coronavirus-free zone, so I want to invite you to come and be a part of what we're doing here at Rudder Church. Hallelujah! The church is located at 5300 Frontage Road, Suite Number A, in Forest Park, Georgia. We'd love to have you be a part of what God has called us to do. Listen, visit rodderchurch.com for more information about the church. I want to challenge those of you that have watched us tonight to give. Something was in my spirit, and if you're tuned in right now live or by replay, I want to challenge every person listening to me to plant a seed of $4 $41. Listen, if you have it in the bank, around the bank, wherever you may have it, plant that seed. You can go online to roddachurch.com/donate, or glory to God, you can go to Cash App and find our church, Rodda Church, and plant that seed of $41 tonight. I promise you there's a miracle connected to your obedience. So Father, I thank you now for every gift and every Giver, those that are going to Cash App now and using the money sign @RothrockChurch and sowing their $41 seed. I thank you, Lord, for those that are going to rothrockchurch.com/donate and sowing their $41 seed. Multiply it 1,000 times more, and we'll give you praise for it now in Jesus' name. Amen. And Thank God.

Well, God bless your hearts.

Thank you guys for tuning in.

I love you.

Listen, don't forget, sow your seed.

Hallelujah. Be obedient.

There's a blessing connected to your giving on tonight. Hallelujah.

Y'all be blessed.

Heaven smile upon you is my prayer. Listen, on December 20th, hallelujah, I'm inviting everybody to join us for our family and friend celebration right here at Rother Church. It's going to be fire. You don't want to miss it. Going to be real powerful. Come and join us. Y'all be blessed. Heaven smile upon you is my prayer. Peace.