Family Prayer | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

Well, if you would join me in second Coronicles chapter 20 verse number one. 2 Coronicles chapter 20 and verse number one. As you're finding that passage of scripture many years ago on Mcinley Street, I disobeyed the Lord one night. The Lord laid something on my heart to say. I was fearful. I was fearful. I'll be transparent with you. I was fearful what the people may think about what I said. So, I didn't obey the Lord. We have a way, don't we, humans, of reasoning out. And I didn't obey the Lord that night. Well, that night, I forgot about what the Lord said. But when I went to get in bed and go to sleep, about five minutes after sleep had come over me, the Lord woke me up. And I spent probably five hours that night wrestling and reasoning with God of why I shouldn't say it. Of course, we know who wins, right? Finally, around I don't know the middle of the morning, I said, "God, if you'll let me live till tomorrow night," we were in a revival. And I said, "God, if you'll let me live till tomorrow night, be the first thing I say when church starts." And I learned the lesson. I learned the lesson. And I I don't want that to happen today. But during the praise and worship, the Lord spoke to my heart so clearly. And he said, "I want you to tell the people today, tell someone today that I, God, have already performed your miracle. I God have already performed your miracle. And I God in time will reveal to you. I will reveal to you in time that when you were fredding, I'd already answered it. So I, God, have already performed. I I don't know who that's for today. I think it could fit all of us, right? So why don't we before I read my text, why don't we just thank God that he's already performed the miracle. Praise him like he's already done it. Praise him like the phone call has already come. Praise him like you've already received the letter in the mail. Praise him like that person's already come to you right now. Praise him like that doctor's report has already been turned in. Praise him like it's already happened right now. Come on, praise him like that this morning. I I've already done it. I've already done it. Time will reveal. Time will reveal that I've already done it. Time will reveal. I had it all taken care of. When you were tossing and turning, I already had calmed the scene. When you were worried about the fiery furnace, I'd already walked in the midst of it. When you were concerned about who would roll those stone away, I'd already taken care of you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. 2 Coronicles chapter 20, verse number one. And it came to pass also that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon with them other beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria, and behold, they be in Hesantar, which is in Jedi. And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. Jehoshaphat stood in the midst of Judah, in the in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, and said, "Oh Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven, and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen, and in thine hand? Is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? and they dwell therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, for thy name is in this house, and cry unto thee in our affliction. Then wilt thou hear and help. And now behold the children of Ammon and Moab in Mount Sier, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt. But they turned from them and destroyed them not. Behold, I say, how they reward us to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit, oh our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. One more verse. and all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children. I am going to preach a turning point today that we look back on this Sunday and we realize it was on this Sunday that God be to turn some things. I'm going to minister on the subject today, family prayer. Family prayer. Father, I love you today. You know that I need your anointing as never before. God, no one is so educated. No one has preached long enough that they don't need your anointing. God, would you anoint your servant today that hearts would be touched, that minds would be open, that God, we would receive a revelation about family prayer and what family prayer will do in our homes. Lord Jesus, touch us today. We'll give you the praise and the honor and the glory. In Jesus' name we do pray. Amen. Now, I want you before you're seated, I want us to give God a praise offering that God is going to speak to us today. Come on, lift your voice up and praise him right now. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. The work's already done. Thank you, Lord. Praise your name. Glory to God. Hallelujah to God. Give him a hand of praise right now. Family. Family prayer. Family prayer. You may be seated. Today, we have this story in the Old Testament. We have this event in the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, let me tell you one of the reasons that we have the Old Testament. Let me tell you one of the reasons. There's several reasons why we have the Old Testament. Run from anybody. Run from any church. Run from any minister that tells you that the Old Testament is not for us. They're trying to take our history from us. Romans 15 and verse number four tells us why we have the Old Testament. Romans 15 and4 says, "For whatsoever things were written before time, that's Old Testament, were written for our what?" Learning that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might have hope. I want you to know something today. to ignore the Old Testament would be to ignore something that God wants you to learn something from. That God wants you to have patience and God wants to build hope in your life. And if that's not enough, we find in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse number 11, this is a verse of scripture referring to the Old Testament. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse number 11. Now all these things happened, that's Old Testament. And all these things happened unto them for examples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world have come. You do realize that we are living, we are living, more than likely, we are living in the generation that will witness the rapture of the church. And so we have the Old Testament today. We have the Old Testament today because these things are written for our admonition. The things are written so that we read them and realize, hey, if it happened then, and if God treated us any different than he treated them, that would mean God would be unjust. If God treated Sodom and Gomorrah any re any way different than he treated us, that would be he's an unjust God. And he's not an unjust God. talk to you today about family prayer. You see, you may be double blessed today. You may be double blessed today. You may have a natural family. You may have a natural family that members of your natural family pray for you. And how blessed you are. You have a father. If you are a father, I believe it's our obligation to pray for our children. I believe it's dad's place in the home to call the name of his wife and the name of his children, grandchildren, and on and on to call them out for before the Lord. If you're a mother here today, it is your spiritual obligation to call the name of your spouse, your husband, call the name of your children out before God. But you know, today, you may be here today and you may be the only one in your family that's living for God. You may be the only one in your family that prays. But I got news for you. You're not only a part of a natural family. You're part of a spiritual family. FA FAC spiritual family church is a church that believes in prayer. And we're a church that believes in praying. We believe that in praying for one another. And so this subject today of family prayer that came to me as I read this story in the Old Testament and just the whole thing is about having family prayer and we'll show you as we weave our way through this scripture. Well, let me tell you the reason the enemy attacked Israel and the reason the enemy attacks us today. The enemy attacked Jehoshaphat. The plan, the plot, the scheme, the goal of the enemy is found in 2 Chronicles 20 and 11. It's spelled out very quick, very clearly here. This is what the enemy want to wanted to accomplish. This is why the enemy, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and they of Mount Sier. That's why these three people came together and attacked Israel was because of this verse 11. Behold, I say, how they reward us to come to cast us out of thy possession which thou hast given us to inherit. The plan of the enemy was to cast Israel out of their land. The plan of the enemy was to push Israel out of the land that God had given them. But let me tell you this. You say, "Well, is that a big deal?" It is a big deal because if Israel has no land, Israel has no future. If they have no land, they have no future. If they have no land, they'll be scattered and they will disperse and they will lose their identity over time. So, it's a larger it's a larger event or situation than them just pushing Israel out of their land. Let me stop there and apply Old Testament to us today. The enemy hates your future. The enemy knows if you hold on to God that you have a better future than you could ever imagine. The enemy knows that if you keep your hand in his hand and you keep walking with him, regardless of what trials or tests come your way, the enemy knows that your future will be bright. And so the way the enemy has to work, he has to come in and try to shove us out of our faith. He has to shove us out of this place. We're living in a culture today that is downplayed the house of God. It is downplayed. But this is more than just a church today. This is the place where we meet with our God. This is the place as of a corporate body that we come together. We raise our families together. We grow in grace and in knowledge of God together. We we celebrate victories together. Amen. And we also walk through dark valleys together. And the enemy, if he could do one thing, he would like to move us out of our place only because it's bigger than just are you in church. gets bigger than, well, I don't go anymore, but I'll still love God. Please don't allow your life to fall prey to that spiritual nonsense. You need to be in the house of God. You need to be in the place where the truth of God's word is preached. And can you give God a praise right now if you believe that word? Israel, if Israel has no land, Israel has no future. If Israel has no land, Matthew 2 verse number six cannot be written. And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah, art not thou the least among the princes of Judah? For out of thee shall come a governor and shall rule my people Israel if Israel has no land. That scripture has absolutely no meaning at all. Not only that, I found it very interesting when I was running reference of the New Testament when it refers to the land of Israel. The majority of scripture that has the land of Israel are is the majority of prophecy of Jesus Christ. The the first one I read Matthew 2:6 uh that's talking about Bethlehem and where he would be born. Matthew 2 and verse number 20 say saying arise take the young child and his mother and go into the land of Israel for they are dead that sought the young child's life can I tell you today we have no land of Israel Israel has no future c can we think for just a moment today what has the nation of Israel been fighting ever since they became a nation in the 1940s what have they been fighting fighting for to stay in the land. And it's more important, even though Christ has come, he's coming back. And of all the places on the globe that Jesus Christ could come back to, he's coming back to the land of Israel. That's why the enemy is trying to push them out of the land. Remember with me today, Israel has no land. Israel has no future. But remember our application today. We're not in the holy place like we need to be in the holy place and we have no future. I want to talk to you today about the power of one. The power of one when it comes to prayer. The power the power of one. My my blessed pastor, Bishop Billy Mcool just a few days before he would launch me out to preach my first revival in 1981, he told me something. He said, "Son, when you go to churches," he said, "If before church, you'll find a place to pray." He said, "If they don't have a prayer room, ask the pastor, can you use a Sunday school room?" And he said, he said these words. He said, "If you'll just go to a place there before church and begin to pray, it'll change it'll change the service." And he said, "You'll notice something else, too. If you'll find a place to pray, it won't be long somebody will join you." I found that so to be true. When I went to churches to preach revival, they had no prayer room. They had no special place of prayer before church. But I'd ask the pastor, "Would you mind if I go downstairs and use a Sunday school room?" Wouldn't be long, friend. There's something about a praying man, a praying woman. It echoes up through the hallways. It echoes up through the staircase. It comes across the chatter of fellowship of what did you do today? And what are you where are you going to go out to eat after church? And it began like a well-cooked meal to savor the building. wouldn't be long somebody else would join me and somebody else would join me and somebody else would join me and I'd have to ask the pastor, can we come out of the Sunday school room and go in the fellowship hall? Church services that were just scheduled for four nights or five nights would turn into six and seven week revival that we would preach around the country and it could all be attributed to one thing. Prayer. Prayer. Somebody prayed It was Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 and verse number three. It was Jehoshaphat. The Bible said Jehoshaphat feared. That's all right. Look at that verse with me, please. The Bible said Jehoshaphat feared. It's okay. It's okay to be fearful. He's not talking about a fear of God here. He's talking about a natural fear. What a fear. There's three tribes coming to cast us out of our inheritance. It is only it is only human to fear. It is only human to have fear. As a matter of fact, God allowed a fear a certain amount of fear to be in our brain because without fear, we would soon become we would soon do things and and risk things that would uh that could possibly take our lives. So, it's all right, Jehoshaphat, to fear. But here's the second thing. Fear should lead us to prayer. Fear should lead us to the one that can help. Jehoshaphat feared and look at that. Set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. But it started, please listen to this. It started with one man. Don't wait in your family for five, two, three, or four to start praying. All God needs to turn your family around is just one person. That is praying and praying sincerely, not hypocritical, but praying sincerely. Not praying that everybody sees that I'm right, but praying that God's will be performed in our families. Because remember, if Israel doesn't have a land, she doesn't have a future. And if we don't have a place of prayer, we don't have a future. It all started with Jehoshaphat. It all started with a man that feared. It all started with one man, Jehoshaphat feared. But chapter 20, 2 Coronicles chapter 20 and verse 5, but watch what happens. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court. And he said, "Oh, oh Lord, God of our fathers, art thou not God in heaven?" Now, now let me tell you verse five. Let me make a note of this. One man started praying. But now people from Judah and people from Israel, people start gathering around in the house of the Lord. Now I want you to know something today. Jehoshaphat goes through a series of asking God questions. He is not praying to remind God. He is praying to remind himself. You see, we forget, brother Slack, but he never forgets. So this series of questions that Jehoshaphat prays is not to remind God, but it's to remind us. You see, sometimes when we're praying and we're saying, "God, you're awesome. You're powerful." We're not reminding God. We're reminding us that God is awesome and that God is powerful. So when I read this list of of questions that he has, he's not trying to remind God. He's simply reminding himself. Look at verse six. And said, "Oh Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven, and rulest thou not over the kingdoms of the heaven, and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham, thy friend forever. And they dwell therein, and have built thee a sanctuary. Look at this. The value of a sanctuary. They've built a sanctuary therein for thy name. We are people of the name of Jesus. We emphasize the name of Jesus. We don't end our prayers by saying in the name of Christ. Christ is not a name but it's a title. We end our prayers by saying in the name of Jesus. For whatever we do in word or in deed, we do all in the name of Jesus Christ. He said we built you a house for your name. Saying this the reason we built a house. We build it for your name. Saying if we don't know what life will bring. If we don't know what's coming around the next corner. If if if that little word, if when evil cometh upon us as a sword, judgment, pestilence, famine, we stand before this house and in thy presence, for thy name is in this house, and cry unto thee in our affliction. Then wil thou hear and help. Watch this one man getting family prayer going. He's not telling God, are you not God? Is it God? Can I remind you you're God? Can I remind you, God, that you rule over the heathen? Can I remind you, God, that you have all power and might in your hand so that nobody can withstand thee? I'm not reminding God about that. I'm reminding myself about that. Oh, family. Prayer will put you in a spirit of reminding yourself, it's not the adversary that has the last say. It is God that has the last say. It's not my circumstance that has the last say. It is God that has the last say. You were here and you will help. And then he went on in in verse 10 verse 11. He went in to tell them about the Mo Ammonites and the Moabites and Mount Seir. How that God, you remember, you wouldn't let us destroy them when we came out of the land. Now God, I want you to see, look how they are treating us. And after all, God, they've just come for our future. That's all they've come for is our future. That's all the trial, that's all the attack of the enemy's come for. He wants your future. He doesn't want you sitting on that pew one year from now. Matter of fact, he'd like if you didn't even come back tonight. He doesn't want you here. He doesn't want you here because your future your future is here. He doesn't want you coming here day after day, week after week, year after year because he knows that a baby will be born to your union. And he knows that if that baby gets in the nursery class and before too long that baby is going to come out of nursery class saying, "One God, one God, one God." And if that baby gets through the youth group and makes it to Strong Tower camp meeting, Brother Hammond, you're going to get a phone parent, you're going to get a phone call. And it's not come pick them up. They've been mean. It's Daddy, can I get baptized in the fountain outside of the auditorium tonight? I got the Holy Ghost tonight. That's what the enemy is after in our church. He's after our future. And he knows if you keep them here and they're going to marry here. Come on, somebody. They're going to marry here. And they're going to marry somebody with the same values. And they're going to marry somebody with the same beliefs. And sometime after they're married, they're gonna they're they're going to bring you some cookies to the house. And you just think, "Oh, Nolan and Flannry are so kind to bring us cookies from what's that place?" Uh, it takes a It takes a loan at the bank to get the cookies. What is it? Crumble cookies. That's right. I never in a world I It's about a dollar a bite. They're just bringing crumble cookies over to the house. Oh, you're all so sweet. What's the occasional? Oh, Dad, we just wanted to bring you We just want to bring you cookies over and we open it up and they've written on it, we're going to be parents. Isn't that amazing? Can I tell you if you'll stay in the church long enough, and my sister's here today, but if you'll stay in the church long enough, 48 years ago today, 48 years ago today, my sister and I stood around the bedside of our dying father who would die before the day would was out. He died of cancer 48 years ago. It was the saddest day of our lives when they pronounced him dead that evening when the nurse came and turned and said he's gone. It's the saddest day of our life. But do you know something? I still miss him today and I know my my sister Kathy does too. I still miss him today. But I'm so glad I stayed in the church. I'm so glad I stayed in the church because tomorrow, one year ago tomorrow, God blessed us with another granddaughter, Magnolia. The only reason you're in the the fight of your faith battle right now is the devil wants your future. Say, man, he's trying to the devil's trying to get me out right now. He's trying to get you out right now because he don't want what's going to happen to you in the future. But I hope this message today causes you to be much more bound and determined and say, "You know what, devil? I'm not going to leave. If I have to tie myself to these pews, if I have to get if I have to pull myself up by the nap of my neck, I'm going to the house of God. I'm going to the prayer room. I'm going to get over this right here because this trial is not always going to last because I'm taking it in family prayer. I'm going to take it before God. You're God in heaven. You rule over the heathen. You got all power in your hand. God, can you see what they're doing?" and I need your help, God. Oh, I wish you'd lift your hands right now and just praise him that you've got breath in your body. You just praise him that you've got breath in your body. Come on. Praise him. You got breath in your body right now. Praise him that you're still here. Praise him that you got baptized 30 years ago, but you're still here right now. Praise him. You've been through some things, but I'm I'm still here in the house of the Lord right now. I'm I'm still here. I'm still here. God, you judge them. Verse 12. We don't know what to do, God. Anybody ever been there? Would you be transparent with me today? Anybody ever been in a situation you didn't know what to do? Would you wave at me today? If you don't want to be that transparent with me, would you wink at me today? Would you? Or how about a good old denominal nod today? You ever been where Come on, brother Monday. You ever been where you you didn't know what to do? Nothing wrong with it. Seemed like we're in a room full of people that's been in circumstances they didn't know what to do. He said, "Neither know we what to do." But here's the next thing. This changes it all. This changes it all. But our eyes are upon thee. This one thing I do, this one thing I do, let me use a little scripture. Let me cross reference a little scripture. When I don't know what to do, I do know one thing to do and that's to keep my eyes on him. I don't know what to do. They the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Mountier, they're coming to cast us out of our future and I don't know what to do, but my eye is upon you. My eye is upon you. Look at verse 13. Look at verse 13. and all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones and their wives and their children. Sounds like family prayer. Sounds like family prayer. When the enemy attacks your family, don't let it just be one, but get another and another until you get in the presence of God and you say, "I don't know what to do." Now, let me break this down today. There's even been times in our church family that we've faced things that we didn't know what to do, but we did know what to do because our eye is upon our God. He's greater than the adversary. He's greater than the kingdoms of the heathen. He has all power in his hand. He's the arm. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. I don't know what to do. Well, let me get my wife beside me. I don't know what to do, but let me get the kids out of the nursery. I don't know what to do, but let me get the brother Hammond, let me get the young people out here on Saturday night to have prayer. I don't know what to do, but let me get in the prayer room cuz our eye is upon you. I'm going to tell you something. It is impossible to pray correctly and not have a visitation of the Holy Ghost. You cannot pray correctly and not have a visitation. If you pray right, you will have a not maybe, not might, not if I pray just right and say the right words. Hey, it's not the it's not like the combination to a lot 17 glories to the left, 18 hallelujah to the right, 43 thank you Jesus's and pops it come up. It's not that way. It's not on getting what you say is right. It's getting the heart right. And when the heart gets right, the spirit begins to come. When the heart gets right, man, there they are in the house of God. got their wives, got their children, got their little ones. Mothers got babies in their arms. There's little kids holding on to the robes of their dad. They're there's teenagers there and they're they're seeking after God. But watch what happens in verse number 14. Watch what happens in verse number 14. and Jeziel the son son of Zachchariah the son of Benaniah the son of Jael the son of Mataniah Levite of the sons of Asap came you read it with me can you read it with me came the spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation you can't pray without the spirit coming oh those that are having family issues domestic issues the Last thing the enemy wants your family to start doing. He doesn't really mind if you pray at church, but he sure don't want you praying at home. Can I tell you, we need to take prayer from the upper room to the living room. We need to take prayer. You don't fight many battles here at church. I hope you don't fight any here at church, but we sure do fight a lot of battles at home. So, why don't we learn how to take the prayer into the home? I wonder how many things could smooth out and how many devils could be cast. Yeah, I said devils. How many devils could be cast out? Because the enemy is looking for anything he can do to slip into that home and cause dysfunction and disunityity. But what about if somebody starts praying? What about instead of the TV being the do uh dominating thing? What about if the TV, instead of the TV being the dominating thing in our home, what if it was mama? God, we need you. What if it was, "Daddy, oh Lord, we need you." What if it was your teenage daughter up in the bedroom? God, we got to have I'm telling you, church, the spirit came. the spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. What's the spirit going to say? Let's look at verse 15. And he said, "Hearken ye." That means, "Listen, oh Judah, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou, King Jehoshaphat, thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed." That word dismayed there means crushed. Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God's. Can I tell you? We take trials too personal. We take a trial too per Well, the devil's after me. He's after your future. And because your future is in God and he hates God. He hates everything about God. And God, the the the the the young man began to prophesy, Brother Brian, and he said, "Don't be fearful and don't be crushed. For the battle is not yours, but the battle is God's. They're not fighting with you. They're fighting with God." And if we can keep that in its right place, we're going to win every time. 10 times out of 10, we're going to reign because he is God in heaven. He rules over the heathen and all power is in his hand. We're going to win every time. Don't take your Don't listen. First Apostolic, don't take it personal. It's not about us. It's about the name. First Apostolic Church, don't take it personal. It's about the one God that we preach. First Apostolic Church, don't take it personal. It's because we preach the one true and living God. Not mixed up with some third century, some kind of false doctrine out of the third century. We preach the truth and nothing but the truth. So help us God. And that's what the enemy wants to shut down. That's what the enemy want. Listen, half truth will have deliver, but full truth will fully deliver. And that's why the That's why he's after you. That's why he's after you. He wants your grandchildren to come out of the nurses saying, "Three God, three God, three God." No, no, no. You ain't getting our kids. It's one God. One God, one God, one God and his name. Come on, give him some praise right now. Lord have mercy. Don't be dismayed. For the battle is not yours. Would you say that with me? For the battle is not yours. For the battle is not yours. But God's verse 16 musicians come. I I'm I'm I'm just done right now. I'm already done. I'm already done because where do you go from here? Where you go from here, brother Thompson? Where you go from here? For the battle is not yours. I said, for the battle is not yours. Verse 16. Tomorrow go you down against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ze. You shall find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeru. Ye shall Look at this folks. I I can't I can't I'm kind of wondering today. Maybe my monitors are turned up loud. I don't hear any amens coming. An amen from the congregation saying what you just said, I believe. Matter of fact, the word amen means to take something and nail it to the wall. That means what I'm saying from God's word, you're saying you nailed it. You nailed it. You verse verse 17. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves. Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you, oh Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. Let me tell you today, the spirit of God, the spirit of God brought comfort. Somebody say comfort. Comfort. The spirit of God brought comfort. The spirit of God brought reality. And the spirit of God brought instruction. It is a comfort to know that yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thou seeest me, oh God, from thy high holy place in heaven, thou seeest me wrong. When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thou art with me. It's a comfort to know that God's with you. It's a reality to know they're not fighting you. They're fighting me. It is a reality to know. It is a reality to know that here's how we fight the enemy. Go out against them. Go out against them. I'll tell you how they're coming up by the cliff of Zeke. Go out against them. I just need you to go out, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Next comes verse 18. Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground. There's that leader again. Leaders, whether you're a pastor, whether you're a pastor or a father in a home, we lead by example. We lead by example. Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord and worshiped God. I just heard the battle's not mine. I just heard that you're with me. I'm going to worship you. And worship is that deep feeling. The circumstance has not changed. They're still coming our way. They're still headed this way. But I am going to worship you, God, in the midst of my situation. The cancer is still there, Brother Thompson. The reports are still coming in. But somehow in the midst in the midst of all of that, we have to reach way down deep inside of us and begin to worship God. I wonder how many people are here today that your circumstance. Oh, hey, come. Anybody can dance and shout when the Red Sea split. Don't talk to me about Miam and the women of Israel that got their tambourines out, did them a little holy twostep after the Red Sea can split. Who can't praise God after the report has come back cancer free? Who can't praise God when the report has come back? We were going to lay you off, but we decided to keep you 10 more years. Who can't praise God in the midst of the victory? But I wonder if there's somebody here that nothing has changed that you can reach down deep and you can begin to worship God. Yes. Yes, God. Yes, God. My baby's still on drugs. Oh, God. and I worship you. Oh, my husband is still an alcoholic, but I worship you. My marriage is falling apart, but I worship you, Jesus. Come on, let's let the Holy Ghost have his way right now. Come on, let's let the Holy Ghost have its way right now. Church, let the Holy Ghost have his way right now. I love you. I love you. I love you. I don't have a job. I still have a God future. If my family looks a little different, I still have a God future. Folks, please push in the Holy Ghost. God wants to break in right now. God wants to break in right now. you'd move up closer to the altar. I believe there's some more folks wanting to come and you just move up closer to the altar right now. All it takes is one worshipper. Are you not God? Do not dwell over the heathen. It's not in your hand all power and all might. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Holy Ghost break in. Holy Ghost break in. Holy Ghost break in. Holy Ghost break in. I pray over my heart. Holy Ghost break in. I am healed by your blood. It declares that I am free. In the mighty name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus, I pray in the mighty name. That's it. That's it. That's it. Miracles. every weapon for us. Oh, God's miracles right now in the mighty name. The mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. The enemy has no right to come to come near my family. Near my family. Come on, sing it with us today. I'm scared to never run through God's plan. No matter the circumstance, the cross, I feel my destiny. Yes. The mighty name of Jesus. I pray on the power of I Oh my god. Holy Ghost. Family prayer. Family prayer. Family prayer. Name of Jesus. Family prayer. I know the power of prayer. Family prayer. Family prayer. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear. I will not fear. I will take it all the Jesus Christ. I will not be. Hallelujah. I will not be holy ghost. Holy Ghost of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear. I will not Jesus Christ worship. You've worshiped, but the enemy is still coming. I want you to hear it. You've worshiped, but the enemy is still coming. God has said, "Go down." They come up by the way of Zeiss. They come up through the brook. They come up through the cliff. Go out to meet them. Go out to meet them. But they're still coming. I've still worshiped, but they're still coming. Nothing's happened to them as of yet. They're still coming. Three of them, Moabites, Ammonites, Mount Sier, they're still coming. God said, "Go out against them." 2 Chronicles 20:20. And they rose up early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness of Takcoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, oh Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem." If this is an Old Testament example, hear me. Oh, First Apostolic Church family, hear me. Hear me. Hear me. Those of you online today, hear me. Josh about said, "Hear me. Hear me. Oh Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established. Believe his prophets and so shall you prosper. It's an interesting phrase. If we'll believe in God, we'll be established as an apostolic church. Never false doctrine will make its way in here if we believe God, God's word. But then he said, believe the prophets. and you'll prosper. Now, a prophet will never contradict God's word. But a prophet can give you instruction of how to activate God's word. I preach in a lot of churches that are established apostolic, but they're not prospering because they don't let a prophet lead them. And they don't let a prophet kind of get them in a situation and say, "Folks, this is what God wants to do." Now, I'm not saying I'm a prophet today. I'm not saying I'm a prophet today. And and matter of fact, I I I I'm not saying that I am. If I am, I am. But I'm not saying that I am. He said, "If you want to be established, believe in God's word. But if you want to prosper, believe it's prophets." Sometimes prophets say something that make no sense at all. Like, I'm telling you, if you'd praise God, if you'd get in your mind, the victory is here, and you'd worship God with all your heart, you'd lift your voice up as loud as you can. Don't do it right now. God, start moving on you and you're saying, "My back's sore." I've heard you say that a thousand times, Brother Carpenter. It may work for new people coming in, but I'm way too deep for that. You can just sit right there in your little established seat if you want to. All right? But I wonder if I'm talking to people like to prosper because prophets tell you things sometimes that don't make any sense. And I'll give you proof of this. He said, "Believe in your God, you'll be established. Believe in his prophets, you'll prosper." Verse 21, look at it on the screen. And I hope it's on the screen. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers un unto the Lord that should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army and to say, "Praise the Lord. His mercy endure it forever." If that don't sound ridiculous, I don't know what is. They're coming with swords and shields and slingshots and rocks and bows and arrows. And you want me to pick up a song book? I got all this junk going on in my life and you just think the music going to play. We're going to worship God and it's going to turn out all right. That's exactly what I'm saying. That's exactly what I'm saying. He said, "Get you a tambourine. Get you a heart. Get you a drum. What are we going to do with them? We're going to go out and we're going to begin to praise him in the beauty of holiness. We're There's no people. There's no God like our God. There's no people like the people of the name. We're going to praise him. Oh, hallelujah. Wait a minute, brother Sal. I ain't even got to the good part yet. Praise him in the beauty of holiness. Holiness is unique. There's not another God like our God. And the beauty of holiness is how unique we are. There's not another people like the church of the living God. It's a unique people. We don't talk like, act like, we we we don't do a lot of things that the world nor the religious world partake of. Why? Cuz it's holiness unto the Lord. And it's a beautiful it's a beautiful thing. They went out singing holiness unto the Lord. Oh, praise the Lord. His mercy endured forever. And one of the scouts for the Moabites or one of the scouts for the Ammonites, one of the scouts for Mount Sier came running back in T camp said, 'Hey, they've lost their they've lost their mind. What do you mean? How many swords they got? They got tambourines. They've lost their mind. How many arrows they got? They've beaten drums. What are they chanting? Whoa. What's What's the chant coming? They talking about something about holiness under Jehovah. Mercy of God endureth forever. And all of a sudden, they got greedy and they thought, "We'll take care of the choir. we'll be able to go in there and just kill the choir. But uh the Moabites and the Ammonites got together and they said, "Hey, let's knock off the tribe of Mount Sier." And so the Moabites and the Ammonites got together and they started knocking off Mount Sier. They started killing them. And then after they had killed Mount Sier, the Moabitete got greedy and the Ammonite got greedy. They say, "Hey, why don't it just be we fight one another?" And and and so they begin to fight they begin to fight one another. And and and and well well, let me just say let me let me say this. Even when you can't see him, he's working. Verse verse number 22. Verse number 22. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Moab. Ammon, Ammon, Moab, and Mount Sier, which had come against Judah. And they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab, stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Sier, uttered display, and destroyed them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of the air, everyone helped to destroy. Everyone helped to destroy the other. And when they finally got there, they found dead bodies laying all over the ground. They found dead bodies laying all over. But it all began. Did you Did you catch it? It began when they began to worship and praise the Lord. Boom. It began. New Testament. And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. Can I tell you, you've come to the altar for about 10 minutes, and you have given the deep the deepness of worship. But what I want to send you home on right now is I want you to begin to praise God. I want you to lift your hands if you want victory. I want you to lift up your voice. I want you to begin to thank him right now. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Smiley, smiley, smile. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Go ahead and praise him. If you want to lead, go ahead and lead. If you want to spin, go ahead and spin right now. Jesus, I know it may sound ridiculous, but praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yes. I love God. free. Every prayer change is coming. Change is coming. Change is coming. Change is coming. Change is coming. Change is coming. Yeah. Heat. Oh yes. Change is coming. Change is coming. Let's say the Lord. Change is coming. Change is coming. Change is coming. Change is coming. Change is coming. Won't you place your hand on your heart right now? I want you to pray with me right now. Father, Father, I receive this word today. I receive the word of faith. I rebuke doubt. I rebuke the uncertainty of the future. My future is secure. Come on, pray it with me. My future is secure because my future is in your hands. I will not fear what the enemy may do. For the Lord my God watcheth out over us. Keep your hand on your heart right now. Going to be a turning point right now. on this April 27th, 2025. In the name of Jesus, there going to be a turning point right now. Going to be a turning point right now. The name of Jesus. I receive this word. Pray it with me, please. I receive this word. Say it out loud. Say it out loud. You hear yourself say it. I receive this word. I receive this word. I will take this word home with me. I will take this word home. I will take this word home with me. I will take this word into every conversation. I rebuke doubt. I rebuke doubt. I rebuke doubt. I rebuke fear. I rebuke fear. I rebuke the spirit of hopelessness. I rebuke the spirit of hopelessness. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. I am more than a conqueror. I am more than a conqueror. I am prospering. I am prospering. I am prospering. As a child of God, as a child of God, I am prospering. I am prospering. In Jesus name, in Jesus name I pray. I pray. Everybody said, "Amen." Amen. God is good to us today, isn't he, church. God is good to us today. Hey, don't forget tonight at 5:30 prayer room 6:00 a great evangelistic service. Shake hands, hug next, be friendly. God bless you. Walk in the victory that God has ordained.