Well Diggers | Missionary Toufic Azar by Toufic Azar First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN) Kind: sermon Scripture: Numbers 21:14-18, 1 Kings 18:41-45, Genesis 21:30, Isaiah 29:17-18, Ezekiel 47:1 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/toufic-azar--well-diggers Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ I believe I believe that God that God has something for us today. I want to ask you if you would be kind if you can please stand with me. Amen. I want to direct your attention today from this uh subject from this place. man. Um, want to go first to the book of Numbers, chapter 21:14. Numbers, chapter 21 21:14. Amen. So good to be with brother Bradford and his wife today. We honor them doing great work in Mexico. God bless them. >> Book of Numbers 21:14. How many love the Lord today? If you love him, would you lift your hands one more time towards him? Amen. We love you, Jesus. We love you, God. Numbers 21-14, the Bible says, "Wherefore it is said in the book of wars of the Lord." And that's fascinating to me because God has a book of wars. what he did in the Red Sea and in the brooks of Aron and at the stream of the brooks that goes down to the dwelling of Ar and Leth upon the border of Moab. And from then they went to beer, there is the well where whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, gather the people together, and I will give them water. Then Israel sang this song, spring up a well, sing ye unto it. The princes dig the well. The nobles of the people digged it by the direction of the lawgiver. And with the staffs and from the wilderness they went to Matana and from Matana to Nahaliel and from Nahaliel to Bamoth and from Bamoth in the valley that is the country of Moab to the top of Pisca which looks toward Jes. Amen. One more place first king verse 18 verse41 Bible says and Elijah said unto Ahab get thee out get thee up eat and drink for there is a sound of an abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel. And he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. And said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, there is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times." And it came to pass the seventh time that he said, "Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand." And he said, "Go up and say unto Ahab, prepare thy chariot and get thee down, that the rain stopped thee not." And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain, and Ahab rode and went to Jezebel. Amen. With the help of the Lord, I'm going to speak from this subject about well diggers. >> Well diggers. Amen. If you help me pray one more time, God, we thank you for your presence that we feel in this house today. We thank you God that for the anointing that we feel and ask you Lord that you would speak to our hearts that you would speak to the inner person touch us if there's any sick person in this place let them be healed today in Jesus name we give you glory and honor in the name of the Lord would you give the Lord one more hand clap thank you God thank you Jesus hallelujah come on let's exalt him one more time Jesus we reverend you and respect you and we love you hallelujah Allelujah. Amen. And please be seated. It was earlier this year when the war has came when we had a ceasefire in Lebanon. I went back with my family. We were always in and out of Lebanon throughout all this time. And uh when we went when we went back in early January, I looked around and we had several people had traveled out, several people had backslid for a year and a half. We felt like we were facing a lot of locked doors for our license, a lot of opposition problems, a lot of on every side. It seems things has been really scattered and seems like what we've built for 11 years was within one month couple of month has been really shifted and there was hardly anything left to go forward was at that time that I went seeking the Lord went on prayer >> and it was several month after that was in one early morning that we had a shift and in that shift everything changed. Amen. It was in in early April that I started praying. It was it was it was every morning that I would go and would pray and the whole family pray and our church would pray. We felt like things has come to a halt in our lives. And uh but that early morning it was around 5:00 a.m. We were at the safe house in Lebanon and we were praying and suddenly I felt there was a shift that happened. In that prayer I was praying. I said God there is several people that had backslid. I want you to speak to them in dreams. I want you to speak them in vision. Want you to bring them back. Would call their names specifically. That week people start coming back to church saying I pastor I saw you in my dream God spoke to me to come back >> come back and pray back through. I start praying God I don't want just people to come to our church but I want families to come to church. I love I love I love families. >> Amen. That week families start coming to church to a point that we didn't have an empty chair left in our building. >> In that in that prayer I was asking God give us healings and miracles and wonders. Let there be let there a free flow of your spirit. Amen. And all of a sudden we start having miracles immediate healings. Amen. That God was moving on every single direction. Was praying God I have so many battles. I have so many issues. The men that they are they are against me are stronger than me. Very influential, very powerful. Amen. But I said God I know that you hold the rain in your hand. That the government is on your shoulder. Amen. It was that week that out of nowhere. Amen. A man was appointed as our prime minister in Lebanon. He was my the man who was on my board's uncle. He was his uncle personally. Amen. And all the sudden it seems like those that they were opposing me. They're inviting me to lunch. Want to be my friend. Apologizing, rolling the red carpet. Amen. Just because God had showed up and God had moved. I want to tell you this morning, right here, right now, there is nothing that's impossible to God. >> Amen. God can do anything. Your big mountain, your big problems, everything that you're facing is nothing for the Lord. God can move and make it. That's why we're here in this morning giving him praise and giving him worship. But back in April, I went praying and God had revealed something to me. God had spoken something to my heart. Amen. That and that word came to me about well diggers. I start looking it up, start teaching it in our church. Amen. went all the way back to to really study about about well diggers. I found out that in the Bible it was a big deal to have a well. Amen. Something I've learned about Abraham that he was good in doing two things. He was an altar builder and he was a well digger. An altar builder and a well digger. Amen. Abra when God gave Abraham a promise, he promised him to to to send him into a promised land and amen that he's going to give him the he's going to have favor. He's going to have the blessings and he's going to have all of that happen for him. But the reality of things that God send him to a dry place, >> a dry place. And you can imagine God calling somebody. Now, if you taking the trip and we take it often from Lebanon to Iraq, we fly over Syria and we go through that desert. It's just a desert place. I mean, I thank God for Lebanon. Amen. But God sent Abraham further south where really there is there is there is dry. Amen. But but you can tell that journey that he took. Amen. With having having a word from God that's been given upon his life. He has the promises of the Lord that's been given to him. And here he arrives to a place where there's no springs, there is no water, there's no flow. And his only hope of survival is he has to dig a well. Amen. We understand that Abraham digged a well. Now, if you if you really uh study about about about the region that that climate is very dry. My wife and I when we came to Pigeon Forge, we were praying said, "God, send the rain." I'll tell you what, there was some rain. Amen. Because we've had six several months, we had no rain. We've been in a drought in Lebanon. And unless you really are thirsty and you you haven't felt the presence of the rain, you would start desiring it. We start wishing that it can rain. When when somebody is really thirsty, he really desire to have that cup of water. And he knows the importance of water. Amen. and and and as as you study that area, these these men depended on water. Water to them was a matter of survival. Can't live without water. Got to have water. And if I'm not only for me, but for my family, I got to have water for my family. I got to have water for the for our agriculture, the animals, and all of that, the crops. I got to be able to water is essential for life. >> Amen. Without water, people will die. Not only that, there is no continuity if there is no water. Hallelujah. If I'm going to and so that's that was in the mind of the people. And as you study history and all these back even here in the US, people would build cities around rivers and around springs. Why? Because they depended on the water. And they understood and as you read throughout the scripture, you'll find out that drilling a well in the Middle East was not an easy as you think. Now in our days, we have these big machines. They come and they you don't have to do anything. Just pay the bill. >> They'll dig the drill for you. But it wasn't so in the Middle East. These men, they had to be a knowledgeable individuals. They had to be skillful. They had to understand, have know the dimension, the geographic of the area to be able to go into a place and dig a well. And I'll tell you what I learned about digging wells. It's a hard work because you don't dig wells with your hands up. You don't dig well standing up. The only way you start digging a well is somehow you got to get on your knees. >> Amen. And you got to have a shovel in your hand. And somehow somewhere you're going to start digging. And I'll tell you, it's a hard thing all the way, but but you got to have faith that somewhere underneath you're going to tap into the water table. And somehow underneath you're going to get to a place where you're going to find water. And so these men, they understand, they understand the importance of digging. And I I I I lived in Georgia many years ago, and my wife asked me to put up a garden and a fence. And I went on to put a fence and I I got one of these things that you get it in the ground and try to to get some dirt out. I tell you, it's so hard work. >> Amen. There was no rain and it seems like, man, I thought I can easily dig dig a hole, but it wasn't. So, it took me about 30 minutes just to take a little dirt from there because the the ground was so hard. But I kept on keeping on and kept on keeping on until all of the sudden the ground started changing. And the deeper you go, the you find, man, I'm making progress and I'm getting into somewhere. I want to tell you something about digging, digging uh uh uh wells and digging holes in the ground is not something easy. It's something that's hard. >> It's tough. It's work. It's hard work. Amen. It takes commitment. It takes somebody that's willing to sweat and somebody that's willing to to go the extra mile. Somehow someway you got to have it in your mind that it doesn't matter how hard it is. I've got to get into that place where things are not just unsaturated but I got into a place where I can hit that table of water that water of table where I can get into a saturated place that I can get into a place where things I can find water. I want to tell you right now everything we do everything about us everything about our mission work and our churches depends on the moves of God depends on the spirit of God. Everything that we do has to do with an everlasting water. Amen. That people come to our churches, it doesn't matter where they at. If they're hungry, they they are coming to find water. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I learned I learned that digging a well is is is hard, but somehow someway you start feeling a shift the deeper you go. >> Amen. That you start feeling a change and suddenly suddenly you feel that shift. Suddenly you feel that things had and you move from an unsaturated ground to a saturated place. >> Amen. And now things are easy. Now God's been good to me back then. The next day I woke up in Georgia and God sent some rain. The next day I was able to go forward. But I remember when when we went to Lebanon, Amen. Several years ago my we didn't have rain and my wife was praying for rain. She's a Georgia girl. And and suddenly in middle middle of the night we heard a little rain and you got to see my wife. She got dressed, went outside in the middle of the street. She starts dancing in the rain. She loved the rain. She loved something about feeling the rain. This is when I learned that she had some Indian in her. >> That's right. Cherokee Indians. Hallelujah. But I want to tell you about the spiritual significance of drilling a well in the Bible. It's a place of an encounter with God. It's a place of covenant. >> Amen. And you read throughout the scripture, it was Hagar met the angel of the Lord at a well. >> Amen. Abraham, the Bible says Genesis 21 and30, he said, "For these seven hour lambs thou shalt thou take of my hand that they may may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well." Want to tell you back then, people fought over wells. And something I believe Abraham taught his son Isaac. Amen. Isaac, if you're going to survive, if you're going to keep the promises of God in your life, Amen. I I I might not be able to give you a whole lot, Isaac, but I'm going to teach you how to dig a well. When I tell you how you dig a well in the spirit, you dig a well in prayer. The only way you can dig a well, you cannot dig a well through praise. I believe praise is important. I believe praise, Amen, brings the presence of God. Singing is important. Amen. Worship is very important. But the only way you can dig a well is when you make up in your mind, amen, that I've got to come into a place. And I know it's hard and I know it's tough, but I'm going to dig a well in my prayers. Prayers is what helps you to dig deep and dig down into a place. Amen. Where you start feeling that change that happens in your in your life. And I believe Abraham taught his son one thing. Isaac, I'm going to teach you one thing. I'm going to teach you how to dig well. When I tell you right now, we will probably be have less young men and young women backsliding if we had taught them how to dig wells. If they would have been around mama and daddy when they were when they were young and they heard their daddy and mommy pray and cry and and cry before the presence of the Lord when they have that move of God in their homes, I believe that more percentage of our children they would be in church today. But somehow someway my greatest fear is that we have raised a generation. Amen. Based upon individuals coming to our churches and feeling, man, the move of God. Thank God. Thank God for wells that they've been digged in church. Thank God for a move of the Holy Ghost. And the only reason why people move, feel the presence of God so powerful in our church is because somehow someway, amen, a person, a man and a woman and a family went to a place and they started praying and start digging deep and said, "God, we got to have a move of God. God, we got to have your presence today. Everything else we do is in vain. But we've got to have a move of God. >> Amen. I remember first time I went to Fact Mville, went inside the old building. >> Amen. There was people there that they were there. I came before church service and there was a lot of people there praying and I looked and I saw Bishop Carpenter, Sister Carpenter weeping at the corner and prayer. I believe the results, Bishop, of that prayer is that you all have dig the well and this is where it's today. It's all because of digging a well. When we first went to Lebanon, I I had a promise from the Lord. Isaiah 29 and and 17 said, "Is it not yet in Lebanon shall be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest, and in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the blind eyes shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. I knew I knew that God has a revival in Lebanon. I knew that God has many souls that he wants to save. And I knew at one day it's not just going to be a forest. Amen. It's just going to blow up beyond the borders. But I remember when we went there and we we we started the church. The first month it seems like nobody was interested. We couldn't get anybody to visit our church. The second month nobody was interested. The third month seems like what's happening? God, you gave me a promise. Was that Saturday that my wife and I went to church Saturday afternoon, kept our little children with my parents. And I went there and I went told my wife, "We're not going to leave until we pray, until we have something that shifts." >> That Saturday, I started praying while we were praying. We prayed for several hours and suddenly a burden came upon me and I start looking outside the window seeing people passing by the cars off of the off the highway right next to us. I start feeling burden praying for the people that they are passing through. Something broke that day. That next morning, a man, a young man studying to be a Catholic priest came to our building visiting some neighbors. He felt something. Came inside. He didn't know. He felt the presence of the Lord. Gave him Bible study. Amen. He got baptized and got filled him with the Holy Ghost. And I tell you, from that moment, it started rolling. It started rolling. It started rolling. We start seeing firsttime Muslim visitors come to our church, weep in the presence of God. They don't know what's happening, but the presence of God would come upon them. And as they weep and they cry, God will fill them with the Holy Ghost. I'd like to tell you it was some kind of techniques that we did. But I would be lying to you to this morning. I want to tell you it it happened that we kept on keeping on. I understood the power of prayer. I knew that if God is going to move, it's going to move because we pray. If God is going to give us revival, it's because we pray. If God's going to give us favor, it's because we pray. If God is going to give us success, it's because we pray. Hallelujah. Oh hallelujah. From that moment, if I can let you listen to our message from this morning from our pastor in Lebanon, he told me, "Brother," he told me, "Pastor, we went on. What happened with us this morning was the results of what happening on Saturday night prayer." >> Something happened in Saturday night prayer that the next morning we just had the move of God. >> God's presence just moved. People were healed and people were refilled with the Holy Ghost. >> Wells, digging wells is the most important thing that people do. And I know it's a tough things and I know it's hard. I'll tell you what I've learned about prayer is not easy. I can praise easier than I can pray. That's the truth. I'm just being frank with you. I can worship easier than I can pray. But you're telling me that I got to have a disciplined life of prayer where day in and day out day in and day out day in day out I'm digging and I'm praying I'm seeking sometimes you don't feel anything. I'd like to tell you that from the first time we pray we felt God. That's that's not the truth. There is time bishes where we couldn't feel the presence of God. Sometimes we went to church and things were hard and tight and you couldn't even speak the words. But there was something in my mind that if I can break through, if I can break through in prayer, if I can press through, something is going to shift, you people in our church, they're going to get the Holy Ghost. It all depends on a well being broken. Hallelujah. And I know that it takes time. It takes discipline. But I tell you, the rewards of digging a well is not only going to be sustainable to you. Amen. is going to be sustainable to your family, to your children, to your city. I believe every apostolic church ought and does have a well in it. >> But does take maintenance. Something I've learned about wells is you got to maintain them. >> You got to build these walls. You got to keep the water clean. You got to make sure that and and this is something I've learned about wells is the deeper deeper you go, the more you're going to draw. The deeper you go, the more you're going to draw. >> How much you want to draw, it's going to depend on the deeper you go. >> Hallelujah. I'm going to say it one more time. If you can go back in history, if you can go back in every place in history, every single revival we had in America, it was it was because group of people, some individual, amen, that made up in their mind, I got to go into that city. I got to pray. >> What are you doing? I'm digging a well >> because we have something that the world needs. We have the Holy Ghost. >> And I got to have the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is going to change lives. The Holy Ghost is going to heal people. The Holy Ghost is going to give miracles. The Holy Ghost is going to answer people's prayers. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. If you go back to the scripture, the reason why we have Pentecost is because 50 120 people made up in their mind. Amen. That we're going to pray every single day. >> You would think it's crazy, but day in day out, day in day out, 120. They started with more people. But seems like there was there was few individuals. You know why? Because they had a promise. promise of the father. The miracle is coming. The miracle is coming. But if it's going to happen, I got to give it birth. If I'm gonna I'll tell you I'll tell you. God speak a lot of things to people's life. They never lay a hold of it. Do you know why? Because they never gave it birth. >> Having a promises is not enough. >> All right. >> You got to be pregnant in it. You got to give it birth. >> Hallelujah. I believe every word that's written in this Bible is yours. But somehow someway, you got to be willing to have the mind that I'm going to get it. That I'm going to pray it down. That I got to dig that well. Oh, I got to lay hold of God's words in my life. Oh, hallelujah. 120 people, they went on praying day in day out, day in day out. And suddenly, suddenly there was a move of God. Suddenly, there was that shift. Suddenly God showed up. Suddenly God filled them with the Holy Ghost. Suddenly they moved from fear to boldness. Suddenly they moved from place of being wanted to a place of having favor with God and men. >> Can I tell you why? Amen. Because they've diged well in Jerusalem. And that well was so deep that went on into Damascus. They went on into Antioch. It spread throughout that whole region. >> And you tell me, brother, what are you doing? I' I'd like to tell you, you know what we're doing in Iraq? We dug a well. >> I'd like to tell you we did a program. No, it doesn't work that way in the Middle East. It doesn't work that way. You can't give people a Bible study. They don't believe the Bible. >> But I'll tell you what, they will respond to a fresh anointing of the spirit of God. They will respond to a move of God. They respond to the presence of the Lord. We went to Cairo, one of the hardest, darkest place in the world. And I understood if we're going to have a revival in Cairo, I'll tell you what's going to take. It's going to take some well digging. Yes. >> Well digging. >> Well digging. We went to Tunisia. We That's exactly what we did. We prayed with these men. We We planted a well. We start digging a well. >> God promised us the water >> and they sank for it. Spring water. They sang it singing. But there was some, the Bible says some noble men. So there is a book called the books of war. How many wars have you won in prayer? >> Because that's really how we we war. >> How many wars have you won in prayer? >> That you shifted things and things has shifted in your favor. >> That God made your enemy come to >> nus. Hallelujah. >> Hallelujah. I often thought why why would Lord would you have Isaac in the middle? You could have had J you could have had Abraham and then you could have had Jacob. Just why? I'll tell you why. Because Isaac's role was to keep the well flowing to keep the well flowing. And so Isaac would go and keep digging that well. And he was fought over it. And but something in his mind he said, "I know in a famine but you wait on me. I know I'm in a trouble but you wait on me. I know you I have a need but you wait on me when I when I get my well going. God is going to give me territory. God is going to give me peace. God is going to give me the victory. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The Bible tells us throughout this whole Bible there was a woman the re the reason why we have two books of Samuel that the bishop was talking about today is because there was a woman named Hannah. >> You know what Hannah was doing every time she goes to the to the altar? >> She dig a well. Dig a well. >> Dig a well. I don't know how many years did she come with her husband. She had a situation, but she knew that there's a God in heaven with one word. Listen, you don't need you don't need a whole lot of lot from God. One word will change your destiny. One word will change your life. One word will solve your problem. That's how powerful church is. That's how powerful prayer is. One word can make that shift and that change. >> Hallelujah. the results God gave her Samuel. She gave birth to him. And I know I love Elijah, prophet of fire and prophet of miracles. You know what I learned about Elijah? God can speak to him and thank God for the voice of the Lord. But that wasn't enough enough for Elijah. Elijah understood if God spoke to me, I'm gonna bring it to pass in prayer. This man was known to be a praying man. Now he didn't just say a little prayer. That's how he prayed. The Bible says he went told Ahab, "The rain is coming. I hear the sounds of a rain. >> Now I got to bring it down." What miracles you have that you need to bring down? >> The Bible says Abraham went in. He didn't just pray. And please don't misunderstand me today. I can sit in the back pew and I can say a little prayer. >> God can God would honor that. Don't misunderstand. But there's something different >> about somebody that says, you know what? I'm going to humble myself. I'm not going to quit until God answers my prayer. I'm not going to get out from here until God moves. And the Bible says, amen, that Elijah went and he put his head behind between his knees. And he went on praying and praying, "God, send the rain. God send the rain. God send the rain." First time, it didn't come. He didn't quit. Second time, he he didn't quit. The third time, the fourth time, the fifth time, the seventh time, on the seventh time, he saw a little crowd like a fist of a man. That's the hand of a man that's coming. Yes, sir. >> He was a well digger. >> Amen. Elijah was a a man just like us, the Bible says, but he prayed effectually. He prayed fervently. He prayed every day. He prayed non-stop. And he understood the power of prayer. As you stand with me this morning, I have learned that I can take care of in 30 minutes prayer. I can take care of things that might take me weeks. >> I became afraid to leave the house in the morning without praying. >> I was afraid. And I'll tell you what, I thank God that we have a good well going in church. We keep it going. But I've learned that if our church in Lebanon, our families got to learn how to dig wells in their own homes. I >> want to tell you right now, if you want to keep your children from being backsliding from a young age, let them hear you praying day in day out. >> Let them hear your burden. Let them hear your cry. Teach them how. Teach them like Abraham taught Isaac, "Son, if you're going to live this age, if you're going to live this opposition, if you're going to live the trial of this life, I want to teach you something. Be a well digger. Be a well digger. Wells will keep you. Wells will bring God's promises to your life. Wells, amen, will give you will give you life. There's a reason why God took Ezekiel and showed him this revelation in chapter 47. And he said, he brought me again unto the door of the house. And behold, Walters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward. >> And when he looked, it was at the south side of the altar. I often wondered, God, why is it the south side? You've always been north and east. Why south? God, I felt like God spoke to me. He said, because somebody in that area was praying. And we look at them individuals that they come to our church and come to our altar and all what they can do pray and speak in tonesues and pray and speak in tonesues. And they're, you know what they're doing? They're digging a well. You look, somebody on the other side of the altar got the Holy Ghost because somebody right there let it flow. >> Somebody in the back was healed because somebody up here didn't come. They they came to make sure that the spirit of God is flowing and the anointing is flowing, healing will take place, life will take place, deliverance will take place, your biggest problem can be solved. And he said, "I want to show you something, Ezekiel, because most of us gets excited with a move of God, and I love I love to have a move of God. Don't misunderstand me, but I I've been in Pentecost for 25 years, and I'm still hungry, and I'm still thirsty, and I still desire a move of God. I cannot live without it. I don't know what this world has to offer, but I want to tell you, everything you need is in this altar. Everything you need is right here in this place. And I don't want to just dig deep till things are saturated. I thank God for that. But and I I'm happy to to have my my my my feet my my my my ankles up in the water. It makes it's a good feelings >> to have things going here and things going there. I thank God for it. But I learned if I can go a little bit deeper, it's going to come up to my knees. Things are going to be easier. Because I'll tell you, if you've ever tried to walk in water, it's hard to walk when when your ankles are here. Up here, it's easier. When it gets to your hip, you're you're moving easier. You can go deeper. >> Where we're swimming. I'm swimming. >> I'm swimming. This is this I'll tell you, this is what I feel in the Holy Ghost. God want to take you deeper. And it's going to be because you made up in your mind. You made up in your mind. I I want to be a well digger. I'm going to pray it through. I'm going to push it through. I'm going to bring it down through. I'm going to pray. And I don't want to just have enough, but I want it to be so consuming that I can swim in it. If you lift your hands with me toward heaven right now, all over this place, if you feel like God had called you deeper, I want to encourage you this morning to make your way down to this altar. If you need the Holy Ghost, somebody's going to pray right now. He's going to release that anointing and God is going to touch you and fill you with the spirit. If you need that healing this morning, teach me, God, put a shovel in my hand. Give me the will to pray and the will to work. Put it in my home and put it in my life and put it in my job. You want to see change in your job, go early and start praying before anybody gets there. You want to see change in your city, in your family, start having an early morning prayer. Dig that well. Let God move and let it flow. Let it flow. Let it flow. Hallelujah.