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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Approaching God In Prayer | Joel Siegel | Mississauga, Canada | Monday AM | Miracle Crusade
01:30:56
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message.
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Glory. Thank you, everybody. You can be seated this morning. Thank you, guys. Appreciate the ministry. How many are excited to be here at the Miracle Crusade in the Morning edition? I like to nickname it Miracles in the Morning. Why not? Why not? How many know God's just as much God in the Morning? I'm reminded that Pastor Nancy was sharing about that miracle with Amy, Sister Amy, that creative miracle that was in the morning service. So we. We just. We. Yeah, yeah, it was. So we. We're just open and really honored to be here. So thrilled to be a part. Privileged, really, to be a part. And we're just glad to be in Canada. Hello. Hello. I think it's been about a dozen years since I've ministered here. It's been a good while. But my wife and I pastored for over 10 years in Buffalo, and then we really like professional hockey and we really like Tim Hortons. So we're one of you, really. I mean, you got those things. I mean, we're just about there. My wife's got a Tim Hortons mug for every day of the week, and I think one of them broke recently. Didn't one of them fall break? She liked to start crying about it, man. I'm like, honey, we going up there where they have one every seven feet, there's a Tim Hortons. So we'll get her another mug. Praise God. Well, God's got wonderful things for us here in these meetings. And there's some particular direction along the lines of prayer that came in our hearts as we sought God with prayer and fasting in between meals and stuff like that. You know how. You know how we do. And so we want to obey that if we can. Is that good? And really what I want to begin talking about, and I don't know if this will just be today or if we'll spend more time this week on that, but what I want to talk about is really where a lot of people find themselves in this whole prayer connection with God. And it might seem really basic, but I'm interested everybody being able to make their connection. And so the thing I want to talk about is what I'm just using this term. I want to call it our approach. Our approach to God. You know, there's different ways that that word approach is used. I know. My understanding is that in golf. How many golfers are here? Any golfers, they have the approach shot. Yes. And what does that Approach shot that's supposed to get you to the green. Yeah. Get you to the green. And in different sports. Would an approach be important? Well, yeah, and it's how you start things. It's how you start things in aviation. Is your approach. Is that important? Your approach? Is it? I think there's some importance to the approach. You don't want to end up saying, hey, look, there's a Tim Hortons. No, that's. You don't want to mess your approach up by focusing on the wrong thing, Right? And see, just going to Tim's instead of going. No, you want that Runway. There's only one good approach. Do you hear me? There's only one good approach. And so people, believers, even born again folk, even some who have been in church for years and years and years, they have issues approaching God. And I get it because I dealt with it myself, and many, many have. Now it's also possible to get past these issues to where. To where it's not an issue anymore. And I think a lot of us have lived there, but we. But we have to be mindful that not everybody is there. You know, Pastor Nancy mentioned that I traveled for a number of years with brother Kenneth Hagin. And, you know, I was. I was blessed to be the musical director. There was others who were in a more management position, but I was the musical director for his music group that traveled with him. They called him the Rhema Singers. So it was a position of close proximity to Brother Hagin in the sense that when he's on the road, we're his team, and even when we were home, he needed something done. We were the ones usually that ended up doing stuff. Well, although I had that proximity, I lacked confidence in my approach to Brother Hagin. Part of it was I was intimidated. Not because anything he did, just because in my own thinking, I had deficiencies, right? And I thought, well, I just had this thing, this concept of he's so great, I'm so not. And I had access that I wasn't taking advantage of. Now, Sister Cindy was also a member of that same group. She had that same access, but she didn't have approach problems like I had approach problems. Y' all would call Brother Hagin if your car wasn't working. I mean, you'd call him, right? You'd call him for stuff. You'd say, dad, are we going through this? And dad said, what did I teach you to do? Okay. That's right. Am I right? I've heard stories. I know the stories. Not trying to single you out. But she didn't have the problem that I had. But I had a problem. I was so intimidated around Brother Hagin that we actually got to go to his house for. I think it was around Christmas time. We got to go for a couple times a year. We'd get to go fellowship at his house. Can you imagine getting to go there? And I was so scared. I'd been traveling with him for like six years at this time. It didn't matter. I was still scared. I mean, if I saw him coming, I'd go to the other side of the hall. I don't know why. I just. It was something in my head. Other people didn't have it. My. My friend, my. Some of my other friends in the group, my friend Philip, who was in the group, he'd just come along and just smack that. Smack him on the back. Hey, dad, how you doing? You know, I was like, how do you do that? Why do you do that? How do you do that? But I remember the one time, I mean, we're at Brother Hagin's house and he had. I know it was fall because we had a football. There was a football game on, and they loved the Dallas Cowboys there. And so I just sat on the. I just sat on the couch with a football game on, pretending to stare at the tv. Just me on the couch. Everyone else is playing games. He played pinball. He'd play his board games. And all of a sudden I feel something on the couch, somebody else's. You know, when you have the coach, you can feel somebody sit down. I feel somebody sit down on the couch. It's brother Hagin sitting down next to me on the couch. And he didn't say a word. He knew I was sitting there sweating. And he just sat there and let the beads form. I made eye contact and smiled, said, hey, I've never been like the most social anyhow, but, You know, you get to know me, you like me, and we can talk and all that. But I was so. I was like, oh, my God, I froze. I was just frozen. There's a football. Thank God. There's a TV on. I just sat there watching the TV. And for like 10 minutes, he sits there, just sits there on the couch. And then he gets up and says, good talking to you, and leaves. Now, toward the end, I got better. I did. Toward the end, I got better and even had some one on one interaction with him. Did you hear what I used that word, interaction? And a lot of people, their approach to God is similar to what I dealt with. And they have this. They have this thing. And I say they, but I'm really talking about me for a lot of years, you know, I wasn't raised in Christianity. I was raised as a Jew. And even coming into something like going to rhema, going to Bible school there and then, than being a. Being a part of Brother Hagin's group. I'll be right there. Or was that. Go on to the next point. Was that. Go to the next point or was that. They usually tell me ahead of time what those mean, but. So even being part of Brother Hagin's crusade team, I had this thing like, I always felt like I'm an outsider. I wasn't raised in this. Therefore, I'm an outsider. And I'll. And I may never just be distance. You hear that? Distance. There was distance. And Pastor Nancy mentioned a moment ago about praying effectively. There are two types of prayer, effective and ineffective. And we have to. Because, see, prayer is not an option. What prayer accomplishes is not an option. So we have to get to this place where we are effective in what we're doing. And when there's this divide on the inside between you and the Lord. And again, if you don't, if you're not dealing with this, you may think, okay, we got to sit through this. Yeah, but so many do. So many dogs and even ones that are listening. And we want to help, not just improve this. We want to flat busted off you to where there is no distance. And we're going to do that with the word of God. Is that all right? Because think of the access that I. That possibly. I don't. I don't know. Maybe I could have had at least a couple good conversations with Brother Hagin that I didn't have because of my approach. Because I was scared to approach. Right. I missed it. Can't get those back. But what are folk missing with the Lord? You know what I'm saying? And so let's just look. And there's a number of places we could start looking. But go to Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter four. I don't know that I'll read any verses you haven't heard today. But how many know that when you eat something good, you like to eat it again? When you hear something good, you need to hear it again. Praise the Lord. Some of y' all drink coffee every day, three times a day, right? Or more. Right? Well, we're gonna hear some of the scriptures that you know already in Hebrews 4, verse 14 says, seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens. Jesus, the son of God. Let us hold fast our profession, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Look at this, y'. All. But was in all points, in all points, tempted like as we, yet without sin. In all points, he's gone through what you've gone through. One of the reasons people have such difficulty approaching God is because they're so aware of their own shortcomings. They're so aware of their faults. They're so aware of their failures. That's a problem. That's the problem. That's the problem. And they look at God, and they look at Jesus and they say, well, you know, they're just perfection. And that's correct. That's correct. But he's gone through everything. You've gone through anything you've been tempted with, anything you dealt with, he's dealt with it. And he dealt with it as a man. He dealt with it in his humanity here on earth. And he overcame it. He overcame it. And you might think, well, surely he hadn't gone through what I'm going through. Yes, he is. The Bible. The Bible, huh? Is this true when it says in all points, all points, anything you point to and say, this is my area. That point in that point, he's gone through it. He dealt with it. He didn't yield to it. He didn't succumb to it. He defeated it. And he defeated it so that you and I can defeat it. But he dealt with it. He's been through it. How many know that he spent 40 days in the wilderness being tested of the devil? You have no idea how severe that testing was. I mean, the enemy was desperate. This was. This was. He was identifying what was on Jesus, man. And it's like, oh, my Lord, there's. There's anointing on this. There's something on here. The enemy was scared of Jesus. We got to take him out. And they did everything possible. So the thoughts of inferiority, the thoughts of unworthiness that you dealt with, he dealt with it. You might say, how? Listen, he did what he did on earth, a man. And as a man, he would have dealt with the thoughts like, are you serious? Me? I'm supposed to redeem humanity. I'm the redeemer. And, you know, the enemy was right there with thoughts about saying, what about this? What about this? What about this? You might say, well, I thought Jesus didn't sin. Yes, but he had thoughts. He was tempted. How can you be tempted if you didn't have the thoughts to go. If you didn't have the temptation, the thoughts to sin were there. And I'm not talking, you know, people. You say sin, and people just automatically go to certain types of things, but just think more daily than knocking off the bank down the street. You know what I'm talking about. Because sure, that's a sin, but how many know thoughts of pride are sins, right? And the enemy would have said, what about when you thought about that? What about when you almost said yes? When I told you that the kingdoms of the world could be all be yours in a moment of time? You almost said yes. He didn't almost. But the enemy, he doesn't care that he didn't almost. He'll say, what about that? Yeah, you almost did. And what he's saying is, because you felt the test, he's saying, because you felt the test, you almost yielded to me. He's tricky. He's a liar. He's a liar. And you got to shut him up. You got to shut. Just like Jesus. Shut him up. Said, it is written. It is written. Amen. So Jesus dealt with everything that you've dealt with. And one of the biggest lies of the enemy is the lie of that. No one's ever dealt with what you're dealing with before. Come on, anybody else? Have you dealt with it that you're the first one. And he'll try to get you into a disqualification mentality that I don't qualify for this because of. Because of how I fell short. And like we said, in some cases, it's not even that you did fall short. It's just that you felt the test and you took that as weakness. You took that as a failure because you went through it. And there are some things that you did go through. And I know in a crowd this size, I'm looking at some folk that you might have had failed relationships or this or that, or you might have been through a bankruptcy or, you know, or whatever area, or you fell in sin. But don't let anything that has happened allow what has happened on the cross to be diminished. Over in the tenth chapter of Hebrews, Sorry, you're in chapter four. Over in chapter ten, We. Okay, going along these lines a little bit because we just want to. We just want to be a bit aggressive in flushing some of this out of our lives, you know, especially if you've dealt with it for years. You're used to. You're used to this distance between you and God. When I'm telling you God wants intimacy God wants closeness. God wants oneness. And when you find out, oh, well, you'll find out. When you find out. When you find out what he's done for you and what he's made you and how he's the provision that he's made for you and for you and God to be absolutely one. It will liberate you. Amen. In the tenth chapter of Hebrews. Glory to God. Did we didn't finish chapter four, did we? But I'll. Okay, you turn to chapter ten. Let me finish chapter four because I left off in the middle of it. Thank you for helping me, peoples. We left off in verse 15 where it says, right, we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like we remember that. That's where I stopped. And you didn't say nothing yet without sin. You know what verse 16 says? It says, let us therefore. Therefore. Because he was tempted like us, because he's our high priest, because he's positioned on our behalf as our representative and knows what we've gone through and what we're dealing with because of that. Verse 16 says, Let us therefore come. Other translations say, approach boldly. Boldly unto. Not the parking lot of grace. Not just. Come on. Because some folk would be happy just being in the parking lot. I wanted to stay in the car. When we pulled up to Brother Hagin's house, I'm like, I'm not so sure I belong in this house. Huh. It was a barbecue. It wasn't like a meeting of the prophets, you understand? It was a. We were cooking burgers. That's all it was. And I'm sitting there.
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Ah.
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And folk are like that. Come on. How many ever brought somebody to the church? And they're like, I'm not sure I want to go in. Right? That's really why we have parking lot attendance. It's not that you can't fit the car in the space by yourself. It's that so many folk are like, I think we just better. No, I think we just better go. And they're like, no, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. We used to, when we passed. We used to pastor a church at Orchard Park, New York. And up here you'd probably know where that is. South. Just suburb of Buffalo. And one of the biggest things we did every year was a Christmas Eve service. And it was a lot of music because we were musical or were anyhow. Used to do a lot of music. Let's put it that way. And so we'd bring in other musicians and stuff like that. And then all the people in the church, they were really good about inviting family and friends and different ones to the Christmas Eve service. But the look on some people's faces when they came into church, they're like, oh, why did I say yes? We hadn't done anything. There was no tongues. No. You know what I mean? There was no. It was just, I'm here. I'm here. And some of them would come in lit up. You know what I'm talking about? Lit up. Like, especially not here in Mississauga, but like in other places. Folk, in order to get comfortable, they have to partake of substance to even think about going to. And this we dealt with. We see this every year. It would be the same story every year. And folk would just come in in all kind of conditions and with this really scared look, like, what are they going to do to me? What are they going to do? So one time, just because, you know, ever since Brother Hagin messed with me on the couch like that. Remember how. Don't take that wrong. Sat on the couch several feet away from me and intimidated me. I like to. I've received impartations, and now I like to do that to other people. So sometimes at the Christmas Eve service, you'd see all the people staring at you. And the first thing I'd do when I'd get up, I'd say, ushers, lock the door so nobody can leave. Just to make them even more scared. Which is why I'm not pastoring today. What were we talking about? Yeah, not just the parking lot. Not just approaching the parking lot, but actually approaching the throne of grace. How much closer can you get than the throne? You know, in the Old Testament, you couldn't come to the throne. Throne. You couldn't come all the way into the Ark of the Covenant. You had the outer court, right. And then the inner court. And then there was places that only once a year, one of the priests could go once a year, the holy place. And we get to go to the throne, and we get to do it boldly. Boldly. This is talking about prayer. I mean, that's. What do you do with the throne? Order doordash. You know, you go to the throne to interact with God, and we're able to do it with boldness. Boldness. What's that means? It means no reservations, no inhibition. And if you're like, I was, you might be thinking, okay, I see it. But how? Because I won't ask for testimonies but has anybody ever experienced these thoughts of, I don't feel worthy, I don't feel holy, and I feel like if I come before the throne, I might get burned up. Now, there's more than one side to this truth, and we're going to, with God's help, get to some. Some of these sides. But we can come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain. That we may obtain. You got to come to obtain. You got to approach to obtain. And there's folk that need things, and they're not obtaining the. Because they're not coming the way they can come that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, remember I said to go to chapter 10, Hebrews, chapter 10, which I think that's where you are. Precious, precious verses. But this is going to show us why we can come. Praise the Lord. Some of you are looking at me like you're not sure if you like me yet. Do you know you do? You do. We're faith people. We're faith people by faith. Decide that you like me, stop judging me and start just receiving. All right? Does that help you be released? Hebrews 10, the 19th verse. Man, I love the word. It really thrills me. Now, let me say something about this little paragraph we're going to read in Hebrews 10. This really, if you read through the entire book of Hebrews, I believe you would find this to be the climax. This is what the whole book is leading to, is this paragraph and this chapter, this whole thing there. And because chapter eight, chapter nine, it's talking about the fact that we have a new covenant and we don't have to stand at a distance from God like they did in the Old Covenant. You know, in the Old Covenant, there was. There was a couple different mountains that they dealt with. There was Mount Sinai, where Moses got those commandments, you remember? And God actually invited the entire congregation to come to that mountain so he could talk to them. He wasn't pleased when he was talking to them. And so he invited the whole congregation to come. And when they came, the mountain was on fire, not the mountain was blazing on fire. And they all stopped. And they said, I'm not coming. I'm not coming near. I'm not coming near that. And they said, moses, you go. You talk to him on the mountain. You get whatever he wants to say to us, and whatever he says, we'll do it. Which that wasn't exactly true. They didn't do that. But that's what they said. They said Whatever, you just go. And they said, we'll stay here at a distance. It wasn't just the fire that was the issue. It was drawing close to him that was the issue. But there was another mountain called Mount Zion. Glory to God. We can come to that mountain. We can come to that mountain. And Hebrews talks about all that. So anyhow, verse 19 says, having therefore, brethren, boldness, boldness, no inhibitions, no reservations. Complete, unfettered freedom. Boldness to enter. Not the parking lot, not the outer court, not even that inner court, but the holiest. Friends, this is talking about you and me. You and I can have boldness to enter into the holiest. The holiest. This is the place of complete face to face with God. You can't get closer than this. This is the place of ultimate closeness. And you and I are to have boldness to enter into this place. Does this blow your mind like it blows my mind? Come on. This is. We have boldness to enter into the holiest. And how does that happen? By the blood of Jesus. By the blood of Jesus. Because, listen, we all have the same situation. We all deal with the fact that I've fallen short in this and I've. And listen, I think if we were to have a contest, you know, you ever get people together and talk about. And this is what we did at the first church that I went to, we didn't have, you know, we thought that the more unworthy you were and the more you talked about your unworthiness, we equated that with spirituality. I know you're well taught here in Mississauga, but folk in Brampton and Oakville, they go through this stuff. Yeah, but that blood, the blood of Jesus was shed to eradicate inferiority, to wipe out unworthiness. Amen. And as we will see, maybe, maybe not today, but we'll get into it. That blood was for the purpose of making us righteous, not righteous in our humanity. But he gifted us what the Bible calls the righteousness of God. God's own righteousness. He gave that to us. He gave that to us. He gave that to us so that we could boldly come, approach. Approach with. With complete freedom. Approach with a sense of belonging, like, I belong here. Like, this is my. This is my home. This is home base. Home base. Having boldness, therefore, to enter into the holiest things place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. You know, there was a veil, a very, very thick veil that. See, everything we're talking about. There was a Old Testament pattern that represented the new. Scholars call it a type, or we'd say symbolism. You know, it was symbolic. They actually had a thick veil. I don't know how thick it was a foot thick or something like that that separated this holy of holies, the holiest place. And when Jesus was on the cross and that spear went through his side, one of the Gospel writers says that that veil was torn in two. Something that thick, it was torn in two. And the way into the Holies, the holy of holies, this holiest place, that way was opened when his flesh was open. And we get to go in. We get to go in. Now. We are a kingdom of priests. Not just the one single priest, one time a year, we're a kingdom of priests and we get to go. You understand, you understand that believers in Old Testament times, they didn't. I mean, they didn't even think that this was a possibility. Ministers in Old Testament times, you might have lived and died as a priest, and your name never got called. They never drew your number out of the hat to go in this year. You might not even have one turn going in here as a priest. But all of us, I don't care if you got saved yesterday or last night in the service, you have been qualified to go in. I didn't say you qualified to go in. You have been qualified to come into this holy place by the blood, by this new and living way which he's consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having a high priest over the house of God. I said we're all a kingdom of priests, but he is our high priest. He represents us. He partook of humanity. He understands. He knows. Amen. We have a high priest over the house of God. Verse 22 says, Let us draw near. How many know? If you have to draw near, that means you don't automatically feel near, but you can draw near. What does that mean? You. You approach, you take steps. Wish I could get an amen or two from. From somebody. You take steps in that direction. You know, how many know? James says that if we'll draw near to God, he'll draw near to us. Well, really, if we want to. If we want to just be technical about it. It's not that God takes a step towards. He's already drawn near in the sense of that blood being shed. It's really when we. When we draw near, we sense his nearness. You know what I'm saying? And so the more we draw, the more we take a step. The more of God we can sense, experience, partake of, and we begin to intermingle with him. We begin. We interact with. Until we intermingle, and we're actually sensing and experiencing God. Amen. And this is necessary. You were never. You were never meant to live alone in your humanity. You were meant to have God coursing through your veins. You were meant to be. To be talking back and forth with him during the day. You were meant to have close interaction without feeling like, oh, my God, I'm so unworthy. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So let us draw near with a true heart. True heart in full assurance of faith. Full assurance, full confidence. Do you like that? That sounds good, doesn't it? Full assurance, full confidence, full assurance of faith. Didn't say full assurance of feelings. Didn't say I feel worthy. Then I come, huh? So by faith, we start to draw. Now, here's the problem. Even though the blood has cleansed you, you still wake up with that mind. You still wake up with feelings. How many. How many woke up in Mississauga, felt like God was in Miami, huh? Nobody. So that means I'm just preaching for me today and a couple people on the livestream. But that's okay, because you'll learn this, that I really am most concerned about me getting blessed from the word. And if you get blessed also, that's great. We're happy about it. I've looked at enough people staring at me in my lifetime to where they're like, okay, listen, if they don't want it, fine. I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna get it. I'm going to enjoy it. And if you want it, you're welcome to it. Praise the Lord. I mean, that sweet everything. That sounds harsh. I mean, it's sweet. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled. Look at this. From an evil conscience or a violated conscience, Your conscience. There's the problem. There's where you deal with things like feelings of guilt. Hmm? I could have done a better job raising those kids. I could have been a better parent. I could have been. I could have been. I could have been. And something on the inside just stops you when you go to draw near. Come on, you've been there. Some of you been there. You go to draw near, and something on the inside just says, well, no, you just. You just shouldn't because of what you did 40 years ago. Because of how you fell short 40 years ago. And, friends, this is why we have faith. Because you need to start turning your attention off of what you did 40 years ago. And you need to turn your attention to the blood and the. To the blood and his flesh that tore that veil and open a way to you. And the more you'll focus on what he did. And how does faith come? Somebody tell me. Faith comes by. Yeah, well, by focusing, giving your attention on it, you're hearing it. The more you hear about what he did, the more you'll stop looking at what you did. And if you look at what he did, you'll start to see yourself in the light of what he did. And you'll stop seeing what you did. And before you know it. What? You'll start drawing near to what you're looking at. You'll start drawing near to what you're looking. I hope I'm not boring you too badly today. It's just the Bible that we're teaching here. The more you look at what he did, the more you'll stop seeing what you did. I need to say this 12 or 13 more times. The more you look at what he did, you'll stop seeing what you did. And the more you look at it like a bug towards the light, you'll come on now. You'll start moving towards it. You'll move towards it, you'll move towards it and you'll get to the place where you no longer feel unworthy, you no longer feel inferior. Come on now. But you can't just sit and wait for feelings to change. You've got to, by faith. By faith, you got to, by faith, start to draw near and keep drawing. Keep looking. Keep looking at what he did. Stop looking at what you did. Stop, I'm telling you. The enemy is going to be so frustrated today because so many people are going to stop listening to him. Stop listening. You sit there and you say, well, I messed up this and I messed up that and I messed up this. And the devil will come right alongside you and say, you're missing five or six areas. Here, let me help you. You also messed up this, and you also messed up this. Won't he? Won't he? And friends, you need to learn this response when you start hearing these thoughts of, I messed this up and I messed this up. You just might need to answer this way, devil. Can I remind you of what you've messed up? Because if I'm not mistaken, nobody had a higher position than you, and now nobody has a lower position than you. So. Can you fill me in on what might have happened there? And you sit and go, I'm waiting. I'm waiting. No, he left when you started. Turn the attention off of you and turn the attention. There's folk getting free in here right now. There's folk getting free right now. Turn your attention off of what you did. You might say, but I actually did this. I actually did these things. He actually died. He actually shed his blood to redeem us. Amen. We can draw near with confidence and that blood will purge your conscience. Now, you might say, but I really am sinning now. Well, that's a different story. That's a different story. All of what we've been talking about so far is stuff that you've repented of, stuff that you would. You know, you're in present rebellion to God right now. You need to keep a couple empty seats between you and the people next to you because you're in trouble. You're in trouble. You might say, help me with these feelings of guilt. No, you want them. You want them because that's the only way you're going to get to repent. You don't want conviction to leave you. And if that's what you're dealing with, and maybe somebody watching by livestream or even people here, but if that's what you're dealing with, I have a great piece of counsel for you, great piece of advice for you. Stop sinning. You might say, hi, you can't just do that. Jesus told. Didn't Jesus tell people? Go your way and stop it. Don't do that again. Stop that. Stop that. Well, I just can't help it. Sure you can. Sure you can. Sure you can help it. You just need to be in the present. You just need to get close enough to God and he'll help you. He'll help you. Praise the lord. What say we. We do want to pray. We're going to do that. What say we look at one more passage? Can we do that? Go to first john, chapter three. Like I said, we might look at this even some more. We might not. I don't know. I don't have direction other than for today yet. So we'll see. Oh, friends, God wants you to be able to come boldly. He wants you to come with confidence. Really. He wants you to come knowing that you're going to receive before you ever get there. None of this, you know, traditional concept of prayer in that we'll just come and see, right? Isn't that how folk deal with the lord in prayer? It's like, well, okay, we'll just come. Will ask and you never you never know, right? You just never. Sometimes, you know, you win some, you lose some. And listen, how many know God's better than a bingo card, You know? But before you ever ask, you all be saying, bingo. This is what. Bingo. This is what you've said. Bingo. Now let's receive it. Did you find first John three. Come on, everybody, say it. Bingo. Are we having here? Verse 18. John's writing and so much in these passages here. But he said, my little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Meaning, don't just talk about stuff, but let the things of God affect your life to where they affect your behavior, to where you're doing the word, to where the things of God are working in you. Hereby. In other words, by doing this, verse 19. By doing this, we know that we are of the truth. Look at this. And shall assure our hearts before him. This is the issue. This is the issue. People come before God and they lack assurance. They lack a confidence. But how do you get that? What do we already say? Stop looking at what you did, start looking at what he did. Keep looking at what he did. And then see yourself included in what he did. Keep looking at it, keep talking about it, keep drawing in that direction until the old is gone and the new has come. Because that really is what's already happened. So we assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart. Now, when here, when the Bible, when the New Testament is talking about heart, we use that word, heart, synonymous with the term spirit, don't we? And that does apply, but it's really also talking about in the New Testament, in the Greek, it's also talking about your whole inner man, meaning your thoughts. Yeah. Your soul. Thank you. Just what you're feeling, what you're dealing with. And that's the issue, what you're feeling, what you're thinking brings condemnation. Condemnation. Do you know what. You know what Romans 8:1 says? Do you know what Romans 8:1 says? What's what? Romans 8:1 say? There is therefore now no condemnation. Ah. To those who are in Christ. There is therefore now, no, now, no condemnation. But that doesn't mean you'll never experience feelings of condemnation. If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart. He knows all things, and he can get you to the place where that condemnation is gone. And then if our heart condemn us, not, then have we confidence toward God. Verse 22. And whatsoever we ask, we receive. Wait a second. You're not even ready to Pray until you've dealt with. Right, until you've dealt with this inferiority, this condemnation, these feelings of guilt. Hello. I'm not even talking about what your spouse tried to bring you with. Guilt. Come on. I'm talking about. If our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. Then we can pray. Then we can pray. Whatever we ask. Whatever we ask. Think about this verse. This is amazing. Whatever, say whatever. Whatever we ask, we receive. Didn't Jesus say something like that? Whatever you ask, you receive. That's how it's supposed to. There's not supposed to be this bingo card thing of, you know, you win some, you lose some. It's not this slot machine thing. Like every once in a while I'll get the three cherries and get a payout. No, every time. Every time. Every time's a winning, a winning number. Every time's a winning card. Every time. We ask, we receive because we keep his commandments. We keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. In other words, once your conscience has been cleansed and purged, you're not violating it all the time. Hello. Praise the Lord. Well, has this been alright here this morning? What you got to add? Come on. Yes. You're the great adder. Okay. All right. Well, listen, let's practice this, shall we? Shall we do this? Amen. You know, we just touched the surface of it a little bit. There's. There's more in there. And, and. But we just seemed led to help get this over to you and for all of us to remind us that we can come with boldness. And so whether you feel like it, meaning whether you feel worthy or whether you don't feel worthy, you might feel like, I could never be a front row Christian. How many know what we're talking about? Because why is it that, why is it that when you go to all the professional sports games, the good seats are in the front, but then people go to church, like, let's get there real early so we can get a good seat in the back, huh? It's because there's, there's the, the distance in the room. I'm not saying here because if you came in and that was the only seat. I'm not saying that. But for some people in some places, huh? And some people, and a lot of people in some places, the distance between them and the pulpit reflects something on the inside. There's distance there. And that distance needs to be gone. Gone. If you're born again, you are in the family, you're as much a member of the family as I'm in the family, you have as much access to God as we have to God. And can I say this? You have as much access to God as. As Jesus has to God. Yes, you do. You do. And so by faith, let's just come and act like it. Now what we're going to do is we're just going to approach God with boldness today. And we don't really have an agenda in prayer, meaning, like we don't have a list of five or six things of, you know, Uncle Charlie, Aunt Susie that we're going to pray for. But you know, kind of as a default go to thing, we're praying regarding God's plan for our day and our time, that which he wants to do. And we're cooperating with him in prayer, making power available. And one of the ways we do that is by praying together in other tongues. And I want to encourage you. It's not just lifting up your voice, but drawing near with your heart, receiving his utterances, speaking them out. I want to invite you to join us as we do that. And I'll also say that if you've never spoken in tongues before and you hear everybody doing that, have the faith to say, God, that belongs to everybody, including me, and just say, I'll take that now. And by faith, step out, begin to speak out of your spirit. He'll fill you. I mean, we could have you come up to the front and pray for you and all that, but you can also just receive right where you are. So we're going to spend a little time, maybe more time later in the week than we have today, but we're going to spend some time doing all that. But the way we want to start out today is I'm just going to lead us all in a prayer just to give you a little pattern of how to approach. Yeah. And so just going to say, pray this after me, but connect your heart to God like you're originating these words. Okay? Say this. Father God, Father God, I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful that you loved me that you love me and you always have and you always have and you always will and you always will and I so appreciate and I so appreciate that your love that your love caused you to send Jesus Caused you to send Jesus that he died for me that he died that he paid the price that he paid the price Shedding his sinless blood Shedding his sinless blood so I could be free so I could be free so I could be Redeemed.
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So I could be redeemed.
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And I could even be righteous.
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And I could even be righteous.
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Thank you that that's the case now.
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Thank you that that's the case now.
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That now I'm cleansed.
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That now I'm cleansed.
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Now I am righteous. Now I am righteous, worthy to come before you.
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Worthy to come before you.
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Not in my own righteousness, not in my own righteousness, but in your righteousness.
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But in your righteousness.
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So I come now so I come now as your very own child.
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As your very own child.
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You're my very own father.
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You're my very own father.
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I'm in your family.
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I'm in your family.
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From your standpoint.
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From your standpoint.
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I couldn't be any closer.
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I couldn't be any closer.
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Help me, lord.
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Help me, lord.
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To have that same mentality, to have that same mentality, knowing that I can come knowing that I can come freely. Freely. With no past, with no sin. So today. So today we come thanking you. We come thanking you for who you've made us. For who you've made, what you've given us. And also, father. And also, father, we thank you for your plan, that which you'll do on.
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This earth, that which you'll do on.
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This that which you desire to do.
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That which you desire to do even.
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Here this week in these meetings which are part of your plan.
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Which are part of your plan.
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Thank you for the fullness of your plan.
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For the fullness. Yes.
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Thank you for the miraculous.
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Thank you for the miraculous, the flow.
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Of miracles that you have for this world.
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For this world.
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That people who don't know you that people who don't know you may experience you and have their life changed by you.
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And have their life changed.
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Thank you. Thank you for the fullness. For the fullness of your flow.
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Of your flow.
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We believe for it.
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We believe for it.
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We pray for it.
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We pray for it.
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And now, father, we yield to the holy spirit.
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We yield to the holy spirit and.
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Yield to his utterance in other tongues so that we may pray more accurately.
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So that we may pray more accurately.
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The details of your plan. Yes. Yes. The freedom of the Pakistan. The freedom of the. Thank you. She got. The next mama. Oh, my. Yeah. And the increase. The increase. The increase of the anointing, the increase in anointing, increase in the anointing, increase.
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In the anointing, increase in the anointing increase.
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Increase in the ratas. Increase in the rapastic. Yeah. Great joy. Great joy. Yes. Yes. Yes.
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Thank you. For the angelic assistance.
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Yeah. The deeper flow. The deeper flow, the deeper flow. And the prime and the prophet and the step of lap. Oh, yes, yes, yes. My, my, my. We praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, we praise, praise, praise, praise. We worship. We worship, we worship, we worship. Yeah. Oh, glory, glory, glory. Yeah.
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So we thank you. We thank you.
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Thank you, master. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Ha. Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory. He's a good God. Faithful God. Glory to God. Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory.
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Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Father. Thank you.
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Who in the building today, you have. You have something going on in either of your shoulders that's limiting your range of motion. Limiting your range of motion in shoulders. There's an anointing here for that. I know you might not be able to raise your hand like you'd want to because of that, but stand up if that's you. Let me just see how many are there that you're dealing with that. Because God wants to demonstrate. Ma', am, you come, come. Come here. Let's just. Not everybody come forward. Not everybody come forward yet. Let me just. One at a time because of the room. And we'll have. I'm just going to move this right here. How's that? Which should go ahead and move it. The anointing just jumped right in you. Ha ha. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Is that better than it was before? Yeah. What could you not do before any of that? None of that. Let's see it again. Give me this hand. Give me this hand. Yeah. My, my, my. That anointing just jumped right in you. Praise him. Glory. That's. That's the beginning of it, isn't it? Yes. Yes. Yes, sir. Come up. Come on up, sir. Yes, you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Glory to God. Like glory to God. Which. Which shoulder? Which. Start to move it. Start to move it. Start to do what you couldn't do easily. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Best unbutton this coat if you're going to. We're going to move that shoulder around. There you go.
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Glory, glory.
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Could you do that before? Could you do that before? Not as comfortably. Yeah, that anointing jumped in you, didn't it? Yeah, yeah. Keep doing that Back. Back at your seat. If you don't. Don't smack anybody. But, ma'. Am. Right. Right here. Easier than just having a line, you know, when there's not a huge group of people, then that we just do it this way. Which shoulder? Oh, my, my, my, my, my. Yeah. Now we're gonna have to touch her. Amy. Yeah. Go ahead. Give back. Give action. Give action to that. Once you get up. Give action to that, sir. Come on, you who are standing up, come on over here. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the lord. Everyone, Don't go anywhere yet. Which shoulder is it? Start moving it. Start moving it. There's the anointing. That's the anointing. What happened? It clicked. Is that good or is that bad? When it clicks, that's good. Moving more. Moving more. He smiled real big when he started to do that. You couldn't do that before like that. It's always giving you problems, and now you're able to do that. That's good. What about you, ma'? Am? What about you? She put her hands on you. Did that anointing go in when you did that? It did. Okay, we know this. When the anointing goes in, that's the time to give action to it. Could you do that before? You couldn't do that before. Really? Well, that's outstanding. We praise God with you, Ma'. Am. Right there. You come on. While she's getting out, there's maybe five or six more. You guys okay? You have patience for that. Now, if you didn't stand before, you know, don't. Don't jump up when you see stuff happening that. Hey, tell me. Tell me what's going on. Well, the shoulders is what I had on my heart. Now, let me ask you a question. Can I ask you a question? Are you worthy of this? Not in your humanity, but did he make you worthy? Yeah. Could you be any more worthy? You couldn't be any more worthy than what his blood's made you. So this is yours? Yeah, this is yours. I mean, this just belongs to you. So go ahead, take it all right now. And don't leave any for anybody else. Don't leave any for anyone else. Go ahead. I dare you. I dare you. Just watch. Just. Just take it. All right now. Go ahead. Start moving. Start moving. What could. What could you not do? Hallelujah. Is that better than what you could do before? Really? Is God that good? He's that good. He's that good. It's me. She. I set her up. Thank you. Bless you. Come on, ma'. Am. Thank you. Father. Isn't the Lord good? How many know he is the one that's provide. He has provided this by his blood.
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Yes, yes.
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He gets all the glory. My. Which. Which. Which. Yeah, it's already in you. It's already jumped right in you when you walked up here. Go ahead. Give movement to it. Give action to it. What could. What could you not do that? You can. You'd have to hold your arm, and now you're able to just move it. Wow.
- [79:01]
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Hallelujah.
- [79:04]
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Can God do stuff in the morning service? He's a morning God. You might not be a morning person, but he's all right in the morning. That's awesome. We rejoice with you, ma'. Am. Come on. Hallelujah. Glory, glory, glory. Oh, praise him. Hey, what's going on? Shoulders, I bet. Go ahead. Give movement to it right now. Give movement to it. Is that better than before? A little bit. That's a. That's a beginning. Yeah. The anointing's on. You keep giving action to that, ma'. Am. Next one. Come on. Yeah. I dare you. I dare you to do better. I dare you to do better. Take more of it. Yeah. His power is meeting you, isn't it? Yeah. You can be honest. I'm not asking anybody to lie up here and say it's something's different than what it is. But I know we're calling things healed. We understand that. Come on, ma'. Am. We rejoice with you. We rejoice. Praise the Lord. Whoa, Whoa. Oh. What you couldn't do. Start to do. That's as far as you've been able to go. Yeah. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Say, I take it Now I take it now. I take it. Lift. Lift. Lift those arms. Lift those arms. Arms. You listen to me. Lift. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Glory to God. Glory to God. What'd you teach us yesterday, Pastor Craig? Believe more, right? That's what Jesus said. We believe. How many? How many you believe? He paid for it all. I know this. I'll tell you what I know when you walked up and that's working right now. And I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna force your arm. I'm not gonna do that to you. But. But we're just. We're just acting on it. And I'm okay. Waiting for a second. Amen. Start. Start down and go up. You know, the Bible calls it working of miracles. Ha ha ha ha ha. That. That anointing is still on you. I'd stake everything on it. I know it is. Ha ha ha ha ha. Do we have some improvement or. That one's looser than it was. Yeah. Without all of it. I tell you what I believe. We'd all stand with you on that? Yeah, we get it all. He paid for it all. We take it all. We just take it all. We just take it all. Yeah, yeah. That's faith. That's faith. That's faith. That's faith. Yes, yes, yes. Praise the Lord. I'll tell you, you can stay up here in proximity to what's going on as long as you want and do that. I'm going to go. I'm going to minister to the next person, but you can keep doing that. We're with you on this. Come on, man. Hallelujah. Step right over here to the side just for a little bit. Stay with it. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Oh, my, my, my. Woo. That's the anointing that's jumped in you. What? What? What could you not do? Do it, do it, do it, do it. Yes, yes. Better. Good. Next person. Where do all you all come from? Come on, come on. The rest of you that are standing, just come right up to the edges of the area right there. Just so we know and nobody else. Okay. Is jumping up at this point, sir. What's. Whoa. Wow.
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A
Thank you, lord.
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Glory. Praise, praise, praise, praise, praise. Hallelujah. Is that different than. Could you do that before? No. Wow. Wow. He's so good. Is he so good, huh? Oh, he's. Glory to God. I'll tell you. God so esteems faith. He so esteems. I mean, he's meeting. He's meeting his faith. Amen. Thank you, Lord. Come on, Come on. Did you get some improvement? Yeah. Praise the Lord. You good? He loves you enough. You know that? Yes. Take it all, Take it all. Oh, my gosh, man. Getting stronger, sister. Stand right over here. What you got going on with your shoulder? Which one? Which one? Start moving it right now. The power's on you. The power's on you. Hallelujah.
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A
Oh, glory, glory.
- [85:39]
B
Could you do that before?
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A
Hallelujah. There you go.
- [85:49]
B
Praise the Lord. Good, good, good, good. Way to take it. Way to take it. Come on. And you know, you might get he. You might get your. You don't have to wait till you come. You understand? You can just grab it where you are. Good, good, good. What? My, my, my. You know, it's okay to. I sometimes lay hands on people, but if. If it just jumps right in them, then I. You don't even need to do that. What's going on, Glory? I could start feeling improvement after I stood because I. Yeah, yeah.
- [86:20]
A
And it's like.
- [86:21]
B
It's.
- [86:22]
A
It like something helped me over there.
- [86:26]
B
Yeah. That's.
- [86:26]
A
Well, And I was like, God is so good.
- [86:29]
B
Well, he's not just a front row God, right? I mean, he. He get. He. He'll get in the chair with you wherever you are. Awesome. She. Praise God. Yeah, Praise God. Yeah, praise God back there.
- [86:41]
A
Something helped her back there. Praise the Lord.
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B
Yeah. For my teeth and. Good, good. We rejoice. Who. Who's over there? Come on, Sis. How you doing? You working it? You can go back to your seat because. Because we. We already know he's all over. Yeah, It popped out of place. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But as you're talking, the power jumped in you. You know it is. And so start giving it. Start giving movement to it right now, right here, right now, right here, right now, right here, right now, right here, right now. And that's better than before? Yeah, a little bit before. Well, improvements. Nothing to. Nothing to be upset about. Improvement is good. But like we said to somebody else, he paid for it all, and so let's take it all. Wonderful. Wonderful. Come on. So, you know, I thought there was only two or three at first, but that's. But. Oh, my Lord. What you got? Which. Which. I guess she's improved. She's doing better. Come on.
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Hey, hey.
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Which. Which side? Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Just. Just be as healed as you are. Don't you love seeing people helped everybody? Don't. If it was you, would you be okay with a little bit of time this has taken? Yeah.
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Hallelujah.
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B
My, my, my, my, my.
- [88:58]
A
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
- [89:00]
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Is that better than what you had before or. About the same. Let me put my hand on you. You keep doing that. You keep doing that. Keep working things while that power is. Is presence within you. Come on, sir. Just watch your step and step over this individual here. My goodness. What's going on? Both your shoulders. Something came on you while you were in the line. So we're too late. Yeah, we're too late. Lift your hands up. Do it. Do what you couldn't do easily before. Oh, praise him. Praise him. Glory. And that's better than what you couldn't do that before. Easily. And you can do it now. We'll do it two or three times. Ha. Glory. It's loosed up. It's loosed up. Will you go be as healed as you are? Glory. We rejoice with you. We rejoice with you, Sister Morgan. Thank you, everybody. We love man. God's good. God's good. God's good. We believe these meetings are just incre. Increasing and increasing, and we'll see what God has for us in the next one.
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We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us at dufresneministries.org to learn of our upcoming meetings, share your testimony, become a partner or visit our online store. This program has been made possible by the friends and partners of dufresne Ministries.