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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Prayer & The Plan Of God, Part One | Nancy Dufresne | World Harvest Church | Murrieta, CA
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. Amen. Turn with me this morning, if you would, to Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians chapter two. And I'm going to read out of the Amplified translation, the classic version of the Amplified. I love this passage. It offers us so much light. Ephesians 2 and verse 10. The Amplified says, for we are God's own handiwork. You could just roost on that for a while, right? Camp there. We are God's own handiwork. Now we look around at creation and go, we're impressed, but he's working on us still. We are God's own handiwork. His workmanship recreated in Christ Jesus. That's the handiwork. He recreated us in Christ Jesus. And that was God's part of this verse. Now he's going to talk to us about our part of this verse. We are born anew that we may do those good works which God predestined or planned beforehand for us. Taking paths, that's our job. Taking paths which he prepared ahead of time that we should walk in them. And this will be the result of it. Living the good life which he prearranged and made ready for us to live. The only life he made ready for you and prepared for you was a good life. Not a difficult life, not a hard life, not a deprived life, not a worried life, not a tormented life. If any of those things are there, we're off the path because the path will put us right in the middle of the good life. Amen. One of the most precious things in our lives is God's plan. God's plan. Can I tell you, young people, seek to know it and protect it with everything you got. Don't sell off the plan of God in your life for bad relationships. Wrong relationships, bad habits, wrong places. None of those are a worthy exchange to the plan of God. Amen. And for us, it's how we live life in the highest sense. The only way you can live fulfilled and satisfied in this life is in his plan. Anything less is going to leave you discontented, hard to live with, fault finding of others, because you're going to blame things around you for the dissatisfaction. When the dissatisfaction comes, when we veer from the plan. Amen. Only full satisfaction is in the plan of God. And he longs for us to have it, walk it out. He's not trying to hide it, he's not trying to keep it from us. But we are the ones who have to be interested enough to lay aside everything else that is not of the plan. Amen. His plan gives our lives purpose. His plan causes you. You're born into more when you come into his plan. Amen. So once we are born again. Now notice it says in verse 10, it says, born anew that we may do those good works. We're born again for a purpose, and that is to do what his plan holds for us. Amen. And God created the plan, but we are the ones who have to take the paths that he planned. So notice, he planned the paths, but it's up to us to take them. He lays them out clear before us and he says, there it is. You can take it or not take it. It's up to you. Amen. He doesn't force us in the plan. It's up to the choosing of our desire. It's up to us to walk it out. And what he's planned will not come to pass automatically. Now, this is a huge thing for you to understand, especially people younger in life when you just think, well, whatever will be, will be. Bad doctrine, unscriptural. If all things happen for a reason. Bad doctrine, yes, there's a reason for all things, but the reason is not God. The plan of God, what He has for your life is not automatic. Although it's already prepared, it's not automatic. We have to take it. So, because the good life is on the path of us taking his plan, what do you think the devil's going to try to do? Keep you off of that path, Keep you from taking it. He's going to offer you other things to take. And so we have to make sure that we want his path more than we want any distraction. Amen. Part of taking. Now this is now I'm beginning to touch into what I wanted to minister on this morning. Part of taking the paths God prepared for us. See, it's an action we do. Taking it. Part of taking it is in prayer. It begins with us. You can't walk out. It's easier to walk out what you prayed out. In prayer, talking to him about it. So that's part when we're told that it's our job and our part to take the paths. You can't do that without prayer. It calls for prayer so as we. Why? Because without praying, we won't know what path to take. That's why we have to pray, so that we will know. It will become clear. We'll have direction through talking to God about it. Not through you sitting down with your Family and forming a pros and cons listening as we pray. Those paths that he has planned, the spotlight starts getting brighter on them. We see them clearer. So without praying, we won't see what's already prepared. We won't even know what direction it is. So what's this mean? It's so important that we hear from God. It's important that we hear from God. Let's not live life on autopilot. Because if you live life on autopilot, you will end up on a path. You can't be assured where that path is taking you. You can't be assured that there's victory on that path. You can't be assured that provision is on that path. You have to take time to know. And I guarantee you it is a constant fine tuning of your heart to God's to make sure you're not veering. Because the devil doesn't mind you walking parallel to the path. Just as long as you're not on it. He'll let you look like you're walking the right direction, but there's something missing. You're over in the ditch, walking through all the debris. You can see your path real good and following just right along. But you're not in the middle of God's best. Before I met my husband, I was on the wrong path. I was in a wrong relationship. I was engaged to the wrong person. And once I realized that that situation was not the plan of God, the will of God for me, because I guarantee you, there came so much harassment to my mind trying to hold me in that thing. But once I realized that it wasn't the plan of God, I walked away, stepped away from that relationship, which also meant stepping away from my job because my job was connected to that relationship. So I walked away from my job. I had to walk away from everything that was security at that time, just natural security. But even though I got out of it, I still didn't know where the path was. I still didn't know what's next. I didn't know where to go next. And I had heard sometime before one minister made a statement about when you don't know what to do, pray in tongues. And that seemed to stand up on the inside of me. And I was led to do that. And so I started every day for this three week period after I had gotten out of that relationship. I would take time and worship God every day. Then I would take time and feed on the Word. And then the bulk of the day I would spend praying in other tongues. I am Standing here today, having been in the ministry, having fulfilled the different assignments on my life for one reason, I prayed about the plan. At the end of three weeks, I went to a service and met a fellow by the name of Ed Dufresne, and five weeks later, we were married. That all happened because I prayed about the plan. That didn't happen because there was a plan. That happened because I prayed and took the plan, and I took it first in prayer, then. Then it was easier to take it in the walking out of every day. So God has a plan for your life, but it's not automatic. And that plan continually unfolds. It's not enough to be on the path. There's an unfolding of everything as you go along. And there has to be a constant accuracy in walking. You can't just say, well, I'm in the will of God. You know, God told me to start this business. Yes, but there are details. There's so much on that path that has to be unfolded as you reach the different passes in that path. Amen. And so there's a constant unfolding of the plan of God, because sometimes there can be a turn here, and if you didn't unfold that turn, you just keep walking and think you're in the way when you left it way back about some time ago. So we can't just say, oh, I got all this, Pastor Nancy. I've got a handle on this. Well, that's a caution tape right there to put around you. Because even though I'm in the ministry and I understand what I'm called to every day that has to unfold, and through praying, we unfold and unwrap things so that they can be spent and utilized and accessed fully. Amen. So I didn't realize at the time that I was praying those three weeks that I locked myself up for hours and prayed in the Spirit, prayed things out I didn't even know that Romans chapter 8 said what it said. Go with me, if you would, to verse 26, Romans 8. 26. And this again is the amplified translation. It says so, too. The Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness. Then he tells us what our weakness is. For we do not know what prayer to offer, nor how to offer it worthily as we ought. You don't always know what to pray about, and that's a weakness when you're faced with a need. So the Holy Spirit comes to meet that not knowing and to assist us. How does he assist us? The Holy Spirit himself goes to meet Our supplication. He meets our supplication. If we're not supplicating, he's got nothing to meet. And this is when plans that God has for our lives go unwrapped because we, we didn't show up for the meeting. Amen. He goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. So he's talking about, there are times that only by speaking in other tongues can you articulate things. Because your natural language, you don't even know what it is to articulate it. But in the Spirit we can articulate things and it can even come out with groanings that you go, there were no words, but it was audible to God. Verse 27. And God, who searches the hearts of men, knows what is in the mind of the Holy Spirit, what his intent is. Because the Spirit, look at this. Intercedes and pleads both before God in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will. So you don't know what you're saying when you speak in other tongues. You don't always know what the articulation of those groanings are. But it's always this. You know this. It's always in line with his will. The Holy Spirit is never going to give you utterances that are separate from what God's will and God's plan is. But notice he meets our supplication. So if we are not praying about these things, he cannot articulate some of these things into our lives. Verse 28. Because the world will quote this verse often, we are sure to know that God being a partner in their labor. Well, the King James says, you know, all things work together for good. Love Lord. You know, people just say, well, all things are working together for good. No, he's talking about to the people who are praying with the help of the Holy Spirit. That's what verse 28 is referring to. The Amplified says, we are assured and know that God being a partner in their labor. What is their labor? Beginning the labor prayer and for every other labor that he authored thereafter, he'll participate in all things work together and are fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God and are called according to his design and purpose. Don't be mistaken in think because I love the Lord, what God's plan for my life will come to pass. That is not true. That is not true. You ever heard brother Norval Hayes? He say, bluebirds love the Lord. It's not hard to love him once you have any light on Him. He is so easy to love. Right. But it's not because you love the Lord that these things come to pass. It's because you prayed and invited God's ability into your prayer life to assist you and articulate these things that he planned for you, you, before the clock started ticking on this earth. Amen. Praise the Lord. When my husband and I met and got married, that didn't just happen because God planned it. It happened because I prayed it. You see, God's part is to plan it. Our part is to take it. And one way, and one primary way we take it is pray it. We have to pray it out. Amen. Because before I prayed, I wasn't taking it. You know what I was taking? The wrong relationship. You know what I was taking? The wrong engagement. My life was taking the wrong path. Before I prayed, but after I prayed, then the path began to unfold. Amen. If I hadn't have taken the time to pray, I wouldn't be here today. If those three weeks of emphasizing and locking myself away just for one purpose, to know his plan. To know his plan, I would not be here today. And I don't know what the setting you would be in would be like. I'm not saying your life would be off course. I'm saying mine would be. And I wouldn't have the privilege of having done the things that I've done with the body of Christ and in the body of Christ and even being here. Today I'm pastoring. I pastored for 25 years. I'm in the ministry, and this was a key. And married the right man, and this was the key. I prayed not. God planned, I prayed. Amen. His plan calls for our praying. Matthew, chapter six, verse nine. Go with me, if you would. You know this passage? Matthew, chapter six, verse nine. Jesus stated to his disciples they had asked him about teaching us to pray. And In Matthew, chapter 6, verse 9, after this manner, the. Therefore, pray ye. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Notice Jesus said, you have to pray. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. You have to pray, Father, your will be done in my life the same way your will is carried out in heaven. I want your will carried out in my life. He said you have to pray that. Did you notice that? He said you have to pray that. Why would he tell you to pray it if it automatically happened? Because it does not automatically happen. Prayer sets the plan of God in motion in your lives. It doesn't fulfill it all, but it sets it in motion. You get clarity, you get a view of what his path looks like. See, in heaven, everything is God's will. Everything is done God's way. And Jesus said exactly the same way that everything you desire for heaven happens in heaven. We pray that that happen in the earth. God's will does not. Don't buy into religion. That would teach you that everything that happens on the earth is God. No, that's not true. And don't fall into the thing. God's in control. No, God is not in control of the earth. The earth has he given to the children of men. Now if you'll yield to him, then he's in control of you. But there are some Christians, he's not even in control of them. Because it's all about yieldedness. If, if God was in control of the earth, then why did Jesus say, pray your will be done in earth as it is in heaven? Because it's not automatically being done in the earth. So we see. Do you see the connection between his will and prayer? His will and prayer. This is what I'm wanting you to see. That his will has to have our prayers attached to it. I remember a time that a man was going to. God had called him to start a church. And so he was, we were talking about it and he was praying about it. And he said that he had been taking time, praying in the spirit. And he said one day as I was praying in the spirit about starting the church, he said, I had a vision. And in the vision, right railroad tracks were being laid. He said every as I would pray, another section of railroad tracks would go down. Then another section and he said and then the train would come. Well, what does that represent? Well, the train is God's will. But notice for God's will to move forward. God's plan to move forward. We are the ones that lay the track. God has a plan, but we are co laborers with God. We are laying invitation, we're laying the groundwork. We say we want your will, we want your plan. And you pray and as you do, it creates the capacity for his plan to move forward in your life. So God has a plan for you for your life. But God has a plan for the whole body of Christ. God has a plan for this local church. God has a plan for every local church that he planted. God has a plan for the earth. God has a plan for this nation. God has a plan for this city. All those different plans require prayer. All of them? All of them. Go with me, if you would, to James, chapter five. The plan God has for the body of Christ will not come to pass automatically. The plan God has for this nation won't come to pass automatically. The plan God has for this local church won't come to pass automatically. James, chapter five and verse seven. Let's look at God's plan for the earth. What is his plan for the earth? Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth. What's he waiting? His plan is to gather the fruit of the earth. And he hath long patience for it until he receives the early and the latter rain. So what does the gathering of this precious fruit call for? The rain. It calls for the rain. So it's his will that there be rain. How's the rain going to come? We pray. How's the in gathering of this great harvest going happen? We're praying. Amen. So we have to cooperate with God's plan for the earth. Now go with me to Matthew, chapter 9, verses 37 and 38. We'll read it with this in mind that God's plan is to reap a harvest out of this earth. Verse 37 it says. Then saith Jesus unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few, so the harvest is ready. Verse 38. Look at the word pray. Pray. There's a harvest to be had. It's a ready harvest. It's calling for laborers. How are we going to get it? Pray. Pray ye, therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth labors into his harvest. Labors going forth begins with prayer. Amen. So what's he saying? We must pray. Then we obey. Now go with me to first Timothy, chapter two. Now, I'm just showing you that God has a plan. I showed you in Ephesians that he has a plan for you. We're seeing he has a plan for the earth. Let's look at the plan for the nation. First Timothy, chapter two. In verse one, I exhort, therefore that first of all, that means making it a priority, right? Supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men. Verse 2. For kings and for all that are in authority. So he's lining out what all men he's referring to? He's referring to those who rule countries, for kings and for all that are in authority, that we, the Church, may lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved. So now we know his will for all men. His plan for all men is that they be saved. And not only that they be saved, but part two, that they also come to the knowledge of the truth. You can have people say, but if they don't come to the knowledge of the truth, they'll live like they're unsaved. So you need to be saved, but you also need to come to the knowledge of the truth. This is what I pray for the saved family, my relatives that are saved, Father, give them pastors that will bring them to the light of the word. Because now that they're saved, there's something else to be done. But notice what all of this talking about, this very political setting of verses, what precedes it? Prayer what precedes when he's talking about his will for all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth Prayer if God will just automatically come to our if God's will will just automatically come to pass in our nation, why would he instruct us to pray? A couple of years after dad Hagin went home to be with the Lord, God spoke to me. He went home in 2003 and God spoke to me and he said, brother Hagin's prayer life held some things in this nation in check. So he said his prayer life held some things in proper order, in proper place. Since he's no longer on the earth, things in the political realm have gotten out of order. That's why some wrong people have gotten into office. And then he said to me, pick that up. Pick what up? What dad Hagin taught us in praying for our nation. Pick that up. Just because someone wins doesn't mean it was God's plan. Just because someone doesn't win doesn't mean it's God's plan. The church has to pray for the will of God for this nation. And it's important because it's not automatic. There are some things that men of God have said about this nation by the spirit in the time that we're living in things that prophesied about different arenas of this nation. And it looks like they are not. They won't come to pass. No, they won't automatically. No, they won't automatically. Well, God said it. Yeah, God said he also has a plan for your life, but it won't come to pass automatically. Anything that God has spoken about this nation, people have to pray and hold on and see to it that the devil does not rob the plan from your life, from this nation, from the body of Christ. We have to watch over that plan. Just as when a child is born, the job of the parent is watch over that child. That's your job. Watch over that child. Well, if they're alive, they can make it. No, no, that's not true. Amen. It's the same thing. If God has a plan, it'll come to pass. No, that's not true. Somebody has to watch over that plan. Watch over the plan. Watch over the plan of God for your life. Watch over it for your children, watch over it for the nation. Watch over it for this church, Watch over it for the body of Christ. Prophecies may be given. Have you ever had someone prophesy to you about your life? Sure. People have received different prophecies. What is that? That's a showing forth of what God has in mind for you. But it's not automatic. When someone prophesies that fulfillment isn't automatic. We have to add our prayers to it. Because our praying shows we're interested in what he said about us. We're interested in it coming to pass. So prophecy is not given so that we can say, oh, it's going to automatically come to pass. Prophecy is given so we'll know exactly how to pray. You understand that? So when men of God stand up and speak about this nation, then we need to say, now we know what to pray for the nation. Amen. And I'll read to you John 16, verse 13. Jesus stated howbeit when he the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come. The Spirit shows us things to come. If what God wanted to have come to pass was automatic, he wouldn't even need to show, would just automatically happen. Why does he show it? Because what he has planned calls for faith. It calls for us to cooperate with him in prayer for these things to come to pass. And there are, now there are some prophecies that are going to happen regardless of what men think. Jesus is coming back. Regardless. Who says he's not coming back? He's coming back. But things that pertain to our immediate lives and things that pertain to our nation and things that pertain to our local church. Church we have to take. We have to take those things and we take them in prayer. We have to pray and we have to exercise our faith even apart from prayer we have to exercise our faith while we pray. But once we've left our place of prayer, we're still speaking faith words over what we prayed. So turn with me now if you would. James chapter 5 and verse 16. Because I'm really just building a case. Can you see that? I'm just building a case that the will of God doesn't come to pass automatically. James, chapter five, verse 16, the second half of that verse. We'll start reading in verse 16. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. To avail is if the wind is against you and you keep going into the wind that's trying to push you back. See, live in Oklahoma, you'll understand what I'm talking about. Daddy said one time, he said, because they will have crop duster planes that would fly over the crops and they fly low and they fly slow. And he said, I looked up one day and the wind was blowing so strong that plane was flying backwards. Now that's a strong wind. What was happening? That plane was not availing against what was facing it. And God here, the word says in James, he says that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much anything that's going against it. When you pray, you can go head into that thing. You can turn things, things will turn. The amplified says the earnest heartfelt continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available, dynamic in its working. The plan of God needs tremendous power available to it through your prayer. Now look at verse 17. Elias or Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. So that means he had flesh and blood just like you. He had to deal with the same issues you have to deal with. He wasn't exempt because he was a prophet. So don't exempt yourself from this kind of results. He said Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. And he prayed how earnestly. That's what it was talking about in verse 16. The kind of prayer not half hearted praying, not religious praying, not checking off the to do task list, praying, praying that is. I'm not giving up till this thing happens. I'm seeing this thing through. And it says that he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. And it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. Now see, God said there's going to be a drought. If it was automatic, why would he pray earnestly for it? Why? Because. Just because God prophesied it. Just because God planned it. Just because, because God said it. It's not automatic. Verse 18. And he prayed again. And the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit. So every time something needed turning, it called for him to pray. Every time. Every facet of the plan of God calls for us to pray it out. Amen. God told the Hebrews delivered from Egypt that he had a land for them that flowed with milk and honey. And he says, I have given it to you. I've already given it to you. They never arrived. That first generation never arrived. Why? Because what God said was not automatic. What he said was not automatic. Automatic. And they wandered for 40 years, waiting for automatically something to happen. People can live their whole lives waiting for God to do something. Waiting for God to bring them into what he planned. But without their prayers and their faith, that's not going to happen. Amen. They had to do their believing. God's plan is activated by believing. Believing, prayer, believing, confessions. You have to believe. Now, in contrast, we see Jehoshaphat. There are three enemy armies that gathered forces to come against God's people. Jehoshaphat does the right thing as a king. How wonderful. He recognized. I don't know what to do with this. He may be king, but he's not God. He recognizes that. And he's not afraid to let the nation know it. He calls for everybody, let's pray. So what do they do? He believes God has a plan. But what do they do? They initiate praying. Notice God didn't say, jehoshaphat, you got some enemies over here. If you pray, I'll talk to you you about it. God did not invite him to pray. He saw his need and he took the initiative and came to God with the nation and said, we're here to pray. God didn't tell them to do that. That wasn't the word of the Lord. Can I say this? It's up to you to initiate. It's up to you to initiate the activating of God's plan. He believed God had a plan for their victory or they wouldn't have prayed. But he knew this. We don't have to wait for God to tell us, I have a plan for your life. I have victory. God already told it in the Word. He already has planned all that. But it's up to us to decide. I want it. You have to initiate into action what God planned. Prophecies are nothing more than him reminding people, initiate something. Initiate something. Initiate something. Prophecies. Thank God for them. When somebody gives you a word of the Lord, because sometimes he gives it to confirm. But I would say a Lot of time he gives it because people aren't acting and he's not wanting him to pass by. Because sometimes there are opportunities and windows of time when certain things can be passed by. I remember I had said to my husband years ago, something. And I said, this certain person I know of, every time they get in a meeting, they get ministered to. And I says, that always baffled me because they were not the kindest people, the kindest person I knew. And Ed said that's because they don't hear from God on their own. And God's trying. They're so far off course that he's trying every even public way he can to rescue them. Amen. So even when God speaks to us, sometimes we have to say, is it because I'm talking about through prophecy or through somebody? Because I'm not diminishing that we need that. As I said, it's a confirmation of things, but it can be. You're not initiating anything, and this is getting ready to pass you by. Jehoshaphat initiated their victory by taking this step. We're going to pray the Holy Ghost didn't prompt them. You better pray God didn't speak to them. You. You better pray they saw the need. Your life needs, the plan of God. See that need. Don't wait for all your finances to leave and all your health to leave and your family to have problems and your marriage start falling apart before you see the need your life today needs, the fulfillment, the walking out of his plan. Don't wait for things to. To get out of order before you start praying about that need every day. I need his plan every day. I need his will every day. I need what he authored for me. You do, too. And we shouldn't wait for things to collapse and start hearing the rumble of it before we take it seriously and initiate talking to him about it. Amen. So in direct contrast to the Hebrews that were delivered out of Egypt, who just sat back and did nothing spiritual and they didn't arrive. I don't want the next generation to get what this generation should have had. Amen. I love the next generation, but if you ain't my generation, you're not getting mine, right? That's right. That's right. And dad Hagin's prayer life laid hold of some things for his generation. Our prayer lives can lay hold of some things for our generation. And Jehoshaphat called the people together to pray. And when they did, God spoke. God didn't speak till they initiated praying. And God spoke, and he said this battle Isn't yours, it's mine. And he said, you don't even need to go and fight in this battle. But he said, tomorrow you go down and you face them. You're not going to have to fight them, but you are going to have to face them. You don't tuck tail and run like you're a coward and got no help. God is not looking for people to turn away from their responsibilities. Go face it. Go face it. Don't act like that marriage problem in there. Face it. It don't act like that problem with your children aren't there. Face it. Don't act like that financial problem in there. Go face it. And he told them what to do. And he gave them a very unique battle strategy. Get praisers. He didn't say anything about weaponry. Why? Because in God's military, praise is the weaponry. And he said, take the praisers, put them out front and tell them what to say. I don't want them bringing their own thoughts. I don't want them bringing them saying what they see. Because they're going to face the enemy. They're going to see their enemy. So you tell them what to say. 2020, God told us what to say. Our best year yet. Why? Because there is so much going on around that he doesn't want you looking around and then talking. He wants you to hear what he said and then talk. And so he gave them what to say. And what was it? What to say. For the Lord is good and his mercy endures forever. Now, that doesn't sound like battle words, but they are victory words. They are exactly that. And so can you imagine seeing that day, they line up the praisers. They're dressed really nice, and they line up the praisers. And they're just opening their mouth and they're talking and they're saying something in the face of the enemy. Where did they learn that prayer was the setting that God could give them the direction in? Amen. When you don't know what to say about your situation, go pray. Amen. Because the word is vast. You can grab a scripture, and yes, you should. But what's better is when the Holy Ghost tells you which scripture that quickens that thing into your situation. So we see that they initiated their own help. They didn't wait for God to come down and do something mighty and impressive. He did do something mighty impressive, but only at their invitation. One man stated to my husband, I don't know what kind, what was going on in their conversation. They were talking about prophecy. He says, oh, I got A whole drawer full of those that never came to pass. What you know is I got a whole drawer full of things I never talked to God about. I got a whole drawer full of things I never released my faith on. But what he was trying to do was diminish ministers and diminish the word of the Lord by saying they never came to pass. If it never comes to pass, it's our responsibility to see to it that His Word comes to pass in our lives. It was his responsibility to which he did. It's our responsibility to see to it that that plan comes to pass. If his plan doesn't come to pass, it's our fault, not His. Amen. I love. Dr. Michael Jacobs has been here and he made a statement. When he was here, he was speaking about prophecy and really prophecy, just what God's saying to you. And he said, when you receive a prophecy, you just received a work assignment, because prophecy equals work. The work of prayer, the work of faith, not the work of trying to fulfill it on your own. That's the wrong kind of work, but the work of believing. Amen. So I say to you this morning, what has God said to you about your future? What has he put in your heart? What has he said to you about your family? You know, God said to us when Stephen, before I. Even before Stephen was even born, someone I did not even know walked up and said something to me and said, he'll be a traveling minister. Well, that bore witness with Ed and I what we had in our hearts about him. But we didn't just say, well, we'll just see if God will bring it to pass. No, we brought our kids up in the church. We put them in a location where God could train them in line with what he said. We didn't just think automatically it's going to happen. Nothing happens automatic with God. It all happens by faith. Then Grant was 10 days old, and I looked over in his bassinet one day and God said, pastor, I didn't start telling him that when he hit 21. And people have said, well, I don't believe in telling your children what God's called them to. Because I don't want you to think that, you know, I don't want to be calling them. I didn't call him pastor. God did. It's not me calling him. It's me letting him know. Why? Because pastor is not automatic. You have to train for it, have to prepare for it. If you don't, you won't fulfill it. I don't care what you're called to. Many are called. Few are chosen. Few chosen. Why? Because few prepare for what they're called for. Amen. Few separate themselves to fulfill what they're called to. Every single one of you have a call on your life. Every single one. There's a plan for your life. It's not automatic. Do not live on autopilot. Do not just get up and think that you are here to work a job, earn money, make a living, pay the bills and then die and leave unpaid bills for the relatives to handle. God has a plan for your life. And every day it's our delight and our privilege to unfold that plan. And we do that through praying and believing and acting, obeying that plan. Right? Amen. So I say to you, what do you have in your heart? What about a mate? Don't wait for God to just send somebody, talk to them about it. Because the devil can see. And if you haven't been talking to God about it, you might not recognize the difference between what the devil sent and what God authored. Amen. I know of one, one minister he was when he in his single days and he was older when he got married. And God said to him, you need to decide if you want to get married or not. Brother Hagin said this to this you. You need to decide if you want to get married or not. Because God has someone for you if you want it. What was that? He wasn't taking initiative. And God was saying, listen, it's not going to happen unless you talk to me about it. Because you won't recognize what I sinned for you. What about this? You have it in your heart. I want a home. You better initiate something. Talk to God about it. Don't initiate it with the bank till you've initiated it with God. Amen. What about a business? Well, God will give me. He's waiting for you. 99% of what you receive from God is initiated by you. So many people just sit back and float through life and wait for things to show up. And you know what's going to show up? An average life. But we were redeemed from average. We're to have supernatural living. Amen. Some things may look like they're too late. May look like. Well, there were things God said to me years ago. Well, I will say this. Sometimes you can wait too long and things have an expiration date on them sometimes. But I will say this, just don't assume that it's too late until you've asked God. Some things can look like, well, you know, I'm in agreement with them. You know, I believe that, but it just hasn't come to pass. It doesn't matter how long it takes to come to pass, just keep at it. You know, you look at Daniel, it looked like his rescue wood just wasn't going to happen. This ain't just not going to happen. I mean, the only thing that his political enemies could find against him was he prayed three times a day. Well, if that's the worst your enemy can find on you, you're in pretty good shape. And that's what the enemies found on him. His political enemies were looking for something on him, and all they could find was that he prays three times a day. So they took it to the king that no one can pray, you know, except you and all that for 30 days. Well, Daniel doesn't care. You know, he goes on with his prayer life, and I love it. He opened the windows, he made sure they heard him pray, And they formed a plan with the king that if anybody prays to somebody beside you in 30 days, that, that they have to be thrown in the lion's den. And God did not abort that plan at that stage. And then while they had, they basically sentenced him, God didn't step in at that sentencing, you know, and abort that thing. It looked like God's not showing up. And then they go to walk him, you know, that morning, you know, you're looking for a reversal from the woman White House, you know, and there's no reversal. It looks like it's not going to happen. Right? Then they walk him to the lines and then they push him in. Oh my gosh. It looks like it's not going to happen. But what did he do? He just stood there in victory and let everything that was to consume him and let. Let it become inactive. It just severe indigestion or something on the part of those lions. Something did not, right. Was he invisible to them? You don't know. You say, well, they would have smelled him. Not if God touched her. Smell her. What threatens and screams loud and says it's not going to come to pass if you'll just keep believing? He just kept believing. He just kept believing. And look how far God allowed that test to go. Why? Because faith works at every level of the test. So it doesn't. You don't have to be delivered at the front end of the test. You can go all the way through that test because the victory is enough for all the way through the thing. There was a strategy. Heaven had a strategy. And the strategy Was you throw him in. Now I got a right to throw those men in. If they would have, if they would have stopped it, if God would have intervened early on, Daniel would have stayed alive and those men would have stayed in power and come on and not been dealt with. But because he allowed that thing to go all the way through, all the way through. Now, now what you imposed upon the man of God now gets imposed upon the accusers. And they were thrown in and the evil was removed from around Daniel. See, God is not just wanting you to get through. He wants your opposers to be silent. He wants everything. Yes, yes. And so when it looks like things in your life aren't going to come to pass, there's a reason. If you're walking in faith and you're still holding onto it, there's a reason because the victory will be further reaching. It was one thing for Daniel, it would have been one thing for God to deliver Daniel from even having to be thrown in. That's one phase of victory or one level of victory. But because it called for a whole night level, God showed the lions are hungry. And before those political opposers ever hit the bottom, the lions had done business with them. They had a conference meeting. Why? Now listen, why do you think Daniel was delivered? He prayed three times a day. He knew the plan of God. He wasn't faltering when things began to oppose. Do you see? That's what I'm saying. His deliverance was preceded also with him praying. Well, did he earn it through his prayer life? No. But his prayer life kept his faith strong so that he could be thrown in and still undisturbed, untroubled and untouched. My husband, God told my husband when he was come, when he came into his 70s, he said, from your 70s to your 80s, your ministry will bear more fruit than all previous years put together. And he was coming on close to 50 years at that point. At 72, he went home to be with the Lord, which shows that's not God's plan. Right? God's plan was from 70 to 80. God doesn't talk to you about what the devil does he talk to you about his plan? Put your faith on his plan. And it dawned on me really just a couple years ago. Wait a minute. God said to my husband, from 70 to 80 would be more fruit than all previous years of ministry combined. I said, I'm not willing to let that word drop. Now, God didn't say it to me, but I'm alive in the same 10 year decade he was speaking of. So from my 50s to 60s. I said, I'm just going to pick that up. Why? Because the word will be fulfilled with faith. So I picked that up and I said, father, I know you said that to him, but there's a harvest, there's fruit that belongs to the decade. And I said, I'm here during that decade. And so I released my faith. And it looked like here, I think I was 57 at the time, because I'm 59 now. I make no lie about. Doesn't do any good. You don't get younger by deceiving you or anyone else. And since I'm not struggling with age, I don't mind telling it. But I was, I think, 57 when it dawned on me. Wait a minute. But see, it looked like, oh, my goodness, there's only three years left. How can in three years, anything happen that can be accelerated? That man went so fast, so long, so hard. How can in three years, there's only three years left of this decade. How could that ever be fulfilled? And what the mind can't calculate. Just one email fulfilled when TBN Russia invited us to come on. And now we're in 186 countries. Why? Because when it looked like it wasn't too late, still. Faith on the word, faith on what God said, faith on the plan of God, faith on the will of God activated. There may be some things that you've left unactivated because maybe you haven't prayed as much as you should about it. Maybe you haven't put your faith on things as much as you should reactivate it, pick it back up. Things that come from God never die, you see. And so I remember whenever one of the great needs, that after Ed went home to be with the Lord in that year was one spectacular fireworks display after another of God's help and very dramatic help that God gave and very dramatic miracles. And you get addicted to them. It's a great addiction. And. Francine, in February, after Ed died in October, she told me, she said, Pastor Nancy, she said there. And I don't know if she had just remembered it or come across it or whatever, because we. We were all kind of. Ed carried all of his business in his head. So there weren't always the written records. Him and Mitch did about the same thing, you know, just the two of them. And so there were things that the staff wasn't even aware of. So Francine came to me in about February and said, there is a personal note alone that you're. That Ed has on the property, on some property. And that note is coming due the 1st of July. $500,000 coming due. I go, oh, all right. Just throw it in the pile, you know, Just throw it at the list. So what? You know what? When you got lists this long and, like, you mess with me, I'll just throw you at the back of the list, you know? And so I said to God, God didn't say anything to me about it. I initiated. He's got a plan, you see. He always has a plan for any opposition. He always has a plan. He always has a plan. And he's not just going to drop that plan on you. You have to initiate. You have to show interest. I want to know what your plan is. And so in talking to him about it, I said, God, what do you say? He says, don't do anything. I go, I can do that. But can I tell you this? It was harder on this not to do anything, because the mind of man wants to plan, wants to go do this. You want to get plan B, plan C, plan D, plan whoever. And so I thought, there's one avenue that this money could come through. And I got a phone call one day and said, they said, that avenue is shut down. There's not going to be anything through that avenue. And so this was four weeks before the money was due. And I said, well, God, if that avenue closes down, there's another one that's going to open. So I said, I'm just going to keep my faith on whatever avenue you have. See, I don't decide which avenue I let him choose. I just keep my faith on the avenues that he has. So I tell you, the temptation was there. You better do something quick. You better do something quick. Because if this one faltered, if this project, if I defaulted on it, everything else is the domino effect. Everything else behind it goes down. And I said, God, you said, don't do anything. So I'm going to hold to what you said. And a week later, those same people called back and said, well, just want to let you know that thing is going to pay out and you'll get the money next week. And I did. The devil can play with circumstances enough to get your faith off of them. You better learn that God has a plan, he has a will. And when you put your faith on it, the devil can, with outward circumstances, because outward things are under his control, but your faith is not under his control. And if I would have, in desperation or in fear or just quitting, say, I. Well, I don't. I just. I guess I'll just turn it turn the property back to the people. I just guess I'll let them have the property. If I would have done that, then that avenue would not have opened. But because I stayed in faith, God was able. God opens doors no man shuts. Amen. When it looks like it's not going to happen, when it looks like it's too late. If God said it, don't you decide what you're going to do. You have to know what God said. See, I knew what God said. Many people get adamant about what they've decided and call it faith. Just because you decided it doesn't mean God said it. You have to take time to know what's his plan. Show. Amen. So the devil will try to mess with circumstances long enough to get your faith off of them. If you want to see more of God's will come to pass in your life, in the nation, in the body of Christ, in your family, we have to initiate it. He's already initiated his side by forming the plan. It's up to us, number one, to talk to him about it, number two, to have faith for it, and number three, to obey him in it. Amen. Anything in your life that you can say, you know something? There are different aspects of my life that have grown stagnant. There's not been movement. You can have the will of God flourishing in one arena and not another arena of your life. Listen. The plan of God is too precious for us to treat it lightly. He longs for us every single day to fulfill his plan. And can I say this? I begin to see that a day is like a container. That I can't take yesterday's container and use it for today. Every day I have to fill up that container of that day with my faith, with my praying, my victory. Yesterday's victory doesn't belong to today. Now it schools me in what I bring to today. But yesterday's victory doesn't belong to today. Every day I have to get up and fill that container. Dr. Sumrall. Marriage faith must be reborn. Every day, Every day. Evidently, God sees every day as quite an individual life because his mercies are new every morning. So every day gets its own supply. What did Jesus say? Give us this day our daily bread. Why? Because I see each day as a container. It doesn't matter that I use last week. It doesn't matter that I used it last year. It doesn't matter that I had success in that arena. Every day calls for victory. Every day calls for a miracle. Every day calls for my prayers. Every day Calls for my faith. Every single day is its own compact concluded thing. And I don't have yesterday, I don't have tomorrow. I only have the container of today's life. That's all I have. That's all you have. Amen. So don't just say, well, my prayers are in last week's container. Today calls for now. See, things can carry over from day to day, but not the spiritual life. Your car, you can pay off month by month, you pay a little bit of it off. Or your house, you pay. You know, you don't have to rebuild your house, but you have to rebuild your spiritual life. It. It has to be tended to every single day. Today. Fill this container of today with the necessary prayers, with the necessary believing, with the necessary feeding of the faith. Amen. Hallelujah. Are you helped today? Praise the Lord. God has a plan. We're coming into 20, 21. Amen. I don't want just wander in. I want to walk very purposeful and accurately and clearly in very defined steps. Not just one arena flourishing, but all arenas of my life. Do not put your life on autopilot and just live. And whatever happens, happens. Just living today, just whatever comes, take charge. Design your life. Design. Each day you decide with the word, with your faith what that day is going to be, what's going to be contained in that day. Amen. Well, stand with me to your feet. Father, we're so grateful for your word. We're hungry for your plan. We're hungry to know your will. Father, there are things that you put in our hearts. There are things that you have spoken to us about. Our homes, our families, our future. And Father, we take our cue. As Paul said, I press toward the mark. We're not floating anymore. But we purposefully, we decide that we're going to take the initiative, laying hold of your word. We see. Father, it's up to us. It's up to us. It's our responsibility to see to it that what you say about us is fulfilled. And we do it with your power, with your ability. But it's up to us to take your plan and press our lives in that direction. No more floating, no more wasting time. No more selling off and exchanging your plan for a bad relationship. A wrong relationship, a wrong location, a wrong setting. We want your highest and your best. We give you thanks and praise. Thank you for loving us enough to bring us into the great, great plan you have for us. Now, can I say this? When I talk about praying, I'm not talking about earning. It's not If I pray long enough, God gives me this. It's as you pray, you see, as you pray, things are authored in you that you need. It's not you earning something, it's you positioning yourself, prayer positions, you to hear, to see. Amen. Ministers would ask dad Hagin, because dad Hagin's ministry was one that stood apart in many ways. And for years he preached and there would be 50 people, 150 people, maybe a couple hundred people that would come to his meetings. And it seemed like almost overnight, I mean, that the word, you know, the word of faith movement just exploded. And he was at the helm of it. And then it was. You couldn't even get a seat in the convention center in Tulsa. I remember I walked in there in 1980, you couldn't find a seat in the whole place. I don't know, seated 12, 15,000, I don't know how many that place seats. And people would say to him, ministers that were very success minded, well, we want to have success, but that can't be your purpose. Fruit bearing is to be the purpose. And they said to him, they said, dad, what do you attribute that kind of success to? He said, I pray in the Holy Ghost. What was he saying? I position myself to see and to hear. Then I just walk it out. If we fail, it's our doing. It's not the devil's doing, it's our own doing. Because there's a plan available. There's a plan available. I don't want any aspect of my life failing. Amen. I want it all thriving. I want it right in the middle of God's best. So if I can encourage you, stir you up, especially coming into another year, don't carry mentality of the past into the future. Take an initiative and be a co laborer with God in the working out of his plan, in your life. Amen. Young people, start now. Save yourself a lot of heartache. There are a lot of older people in here that would love to trade places with your years. Yes, hello. That we would love to live your life knowing what we know in the sense of having your years. My mother used to say this statement, youth is wasted on the young. But don't waste early years by living an average life and looking like everybody else around you. Everybody around you can do it. Amen. God has more for you. I said, God has more for you. God has more for you. Father, we're so grateful. We're so, so grateful. And let me tell you something, you don't have to go through years of stupidity just because you're young. You don't have to leave stupidity for people who don't, who don't have offered and haven't had offered to them the opportunities you've had. People that are young people that are raised in this church have no right to look around at those maybe in their what would be in their age group, school settings, college settings and well, that happens to them. You've had a head start. Nobody else had. Nobody else around you had. And you need to come up to that head start. You need to show that you've had a head start. Your life needs to represent it. God will expect more of you than he will of them. Just know, young people, if you've been raised in this church, God expects more of you than he does the young people in the world. He expects more of you because you've been offered more. Whether you took it or not is your issue. We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us@DefrainMinistries.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.