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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Talk It Over With God | Nancy Dufresne | Prayer Conference 2024 | Tuesday PM
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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. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Father, we thank you. I was reading, I believe it was in Sister Yeoman's book that there was. I could be wrong about that, but I think it was hers. And she was talking about someone that was really given up to die. And the person said to God, what should my approach be now? And he said, can you not thank me for my faithfulness to my word? That'll heal you, provide for you, give answers. He's faithful to his word right there, the cure all. Father, I thank you. You're so faithful. You're so faithful to your word. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Well, you can turn around to someone before you're seated tonight. Give them a great big God bless you. Halleluj. I had something in my heart for tonight. We'll start that way and see how it goes. How about that? You're ready to get on it with us and just go where we go? Hallelujah. Turn with me, if you would, to Isaiah, chapter one. Isaiah, chapter one and verse 18. Isaiah, chapter one and verse eighteen. And I'm going to read out of the King James translation first. You can bring me back a little bit. Brother Andrew in the house. Just a smidge. You do know that's not a California term, a smidge. But they know what we're talking about. Isaiah, chapter one, verse 18. And it says, come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Ah, what an invitation. And then it goes on and says, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. In other words, now sin is not a reason not to come. And the devil will always try to paint your mistakes, sins, faults, failures, as a reason why you shouldn't come or why you shouldn't be bold in your coming, or why you should be downcast in your coming. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. He is not sentencing people to be devoured with the sword. He's saying, you don't have to be devoured. When you can come, You can come to me and receive what you need. You don't have to try to do things your way, by yourself, on your own, and then get devoured. There's no sense in that. When you can come, I want to read out of the living Bible translation of Starting in verse 18, it says, Come, let us talk this over, says the Lord. I like that. What's that? Speak of intimacy. That prayer is not just a flow of requests, it's a talking over with him. And we should progress. Yes, our prayer time will include requests, but that's not the totality of a mature prayer life. A growing prayer life is going to involve talking things over, meaning we say what's in our heart, but then we let him have place to say what's in his heart about that which we're talking about. And too many times we can just barge right ahead and just have our list. And there we go. Praise God. It's mine. Thank God I have it now. And I'm not belittling the prayer of faith, but we cheat ourselves if we don't talk him talk some things over because it will help us be more accurate in the releasing of our faith. Because when we come with a need or a request, we see through a glass darkly. What's that mean? We see our side. And that's perfectly right. I mean, that's all we can see from our perspective. But he's offering his perspective. So let's talk this over because you're going to talk to me about what you see and I'm going to talk to you about what I know. And then you're not just coming and limiting your fellowship to your understanding and to your knowledge. But now you've invited his understanding of the situation because he sees the whole. He sees the whole. He sees everything with binoculars. He sees detail. He sees far reaching. He sees how this is connected to that 10 years down the road. He sees everything that's linked. So let's talk it over instead of just barging in with your list. Let's talk it over. And he invites you to that intimacy. Because I don't just talk things over with everybody I see. Do you? No. If you do, you probably need to adjust some things. Because there are some things that are so intimate to your heart that they don't belong everywhere. They only belong in the ears of certain ones. And he says, as you would intimately talk something over with someone dear to you, I offer you, let's talk it over. Just because he is God, we have to also remember, Father. Amen. We do approach him as God. Listen, there is a real danger in treating him like A chum. That's a flow of irreverence, of disrespect. You know, he's not one of our boos out on the playground. You know, he's my boo. No, he's not. No, he's not. There is a respect and there is a reverence, but in that there's an intimacy that can happen of us talking, talking things over at an intimate place because he wants to be involved in every detail. And too many times we think the details are within our control and the questions we come to with him, but he wants every. He wants to have the opportunity to be involved in a dialogue because he sees your tomorrows and he knows them. And he will talk to us about the things we bring before him based on not just the immediate, but the tomorrows. So he's going to have a fuller view and fuller conversation with us. But if we just go through our organizer checklist and listen. You know, one of the things that God dealt with me about years ago, I was spending hours a day praying in the Spirit especially. And after months and months and months of prolonged prayer times, God said to me one day, he said, you're missing it in your prayer life. I go, my gosh, I'm hours here. You know, I'm talking about purposefully going aside. He said, you're missing it in your prayer life, he said, because you bring something up to me once and then you let it drop. He said, stay with it. Continue. Continue with. Continue with praise over that request. Not continue asking the same thing over and over. Continue. You ask in faith, releasing your faith, but then you flip to the prayer of praise and worship, and you continue to watch over that request with praise and worship. Colossians, chapter 4, verse 2 is what it says. Colossians. It says, continue in prayer and watch in the same. Watch in what? Watch over that prayer. Then it says, with thanksgiving. Yes, with thanksgiving. So you make the request and then you watch over it till it's fulfilled in this realm with thanksgiving. In other words, he told me, you're lifting up something, but you're not watching over it with thanksgiving. So it's not coming to pass as it ought. So what I do to make sure I watch over things? I do make a list of things I'm believing for because it matters to me that they're watched over. And what's that? Why do I have a list? Because I got so many things. But the prayer list is not to be rigid. The prayer list is so you don't forget something. I don't Forget something. That's right. That is right. It's not to get regimented and lifeless and cold and be legalistic in our approach. It's just so we don't let somebody, something slip that is important to us. That's right. Amen. Very good. Amen. So I'm trying to go back here. Let's read it in the living bible. Isaiah, chapter one, verse 18. Again. Come, let's talk this over, says the Lord, no matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. In other words, he just disarmed the accuser of the brethren. Because the accuser of the brethren, when you go to pray, is going to take especially that time to remind you of your faults, failures, misses, what you should have done, what you haven't been, what you could have done better. You say, how do you know? Because I've heard those same things you've heard. And God is disarming all of that right here. Meaning this. The blood makes it as though you never missed it. Once you repent. Once you repent. Once you repent. Once you repent. I cannot express to you enough the great rewards of repentance. Great rewards with repentance. Repentance is not a sign of someone who's weak. The failure to repent is weakness. It's a weak person who won't repent. And I'm talking about not just to God, but to their spouse, to their employer, to those in their family. When someone repents, that's strength. That is spiritual maturity, spiritual strength. That says, I want to be right. The rewards of repentance are so great that God delights to bless us at repentance. The prodigal Son, he came back and said, and it was a true repentance. He was not flippant in his repentance. This is one. There's an appropriate repentance, meaning we're not flippant about. Well, you got to forgive me. I've heard. Listen, I've heard people, you know, if you don't forgive me, your prayers won't get answered. Wow. The devil quoted scripture too. So let's. It's the heart behind that thing. It's the spirit behind it that we're not flippant when we miss it. We should be brokenhearted about that because our sin costs heaven everything. Our sin costs heaven its best. So we don't treat that lightly. When we repent, it ought to be heartfelt, sincere and to the bottom. All the way to the bottom. But once you repent. Magnify the blood more than your sin. Treat the blood as. As how much greater it is than your sin by saying, thank God the blood makes it as though I never missed it. Now makes it as though I never missed it. That's what righteousness is. As though we never missed it. And the blood made that possible. But here he is disarming something. He's letting you know when you come to talk over what's going to try to stop you from that kind of intimacy. Memory of your sin where you've missed it. And he's telling you, right on the tail end of this invitation, your sin's white as snow, gone. Because this is what the enemy uses to keep you out of this. Coming and talking it over. Listen, this is God's idea for you to come and talk it over, not yours. That makes it so much more precious, doesn't it? And it goes on in verse 18. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I will make you white as wool. Verse 19. If you will only let me help you, if you will only obey, then I will make you rich. But if you keep on turning your backs and refusing to listen to me, you will be killed by your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken it. He hasn't sentenced you to that. In speaking it, he has let you know that you don't have to be. You don't have to be treated that way by your enemies if you'll keep your back to them and not your back to God. Because when you turn, something's behind you. Make sure the right one's behind you, that it's the enemy behind you and not God that you've turned your back to. Amen. Amen. Amen. Look at that. Don't you love this verse? Yeah. Come, let's talk this over. In talking it over, that doesn't just mean you state something important to you. He hears you when you talk it over. But it means this. You hear him. And that's what I want to talk to him tonight about. You hearing him. That makes all the difference, not just you. Being heard is part of it. But it doesn't matter that you're heard if you don't take time to hear. Because the difference is in what he says. That's where things change. That's where faith comes. Faith comes when you hear what he says. Amen. Come, let's talk this over. That's my new slogan. I'm here to talk it over now, notice. Come, come. He invites you to where he is. He invites you to his flow. He's not coming. You don't need to try to pull him into your need. You come up into his flow. Come, come and let's talk it over from where I'm flowing, where I'm moving, where I'm operating. Why? Because we've been raised and seated with Christ. That's the place we belong anyway. So. So let's not talk it over on the human level and just be mental about this. Let's tap into our spirits and let's have a God to a God, divine talk. Spirit to spirit, not mind to spirit. Trying to comprehend spirit and unable to. Because when he talks, your mind keeps. You can't grasp all that is spoken and offered. It takes your spirit to receive it. Why? Because it takes faith to receive what he says. And there's no faith in your mind. You have to take your spirit to this conversation. Not your mind won't do, because there's no faith there. Faith is of the heart. Faith is of the heart. The only. You can't believe God with the mind. That's why people feel overwhelmed. That's why people get depressed. That's why people get anxious, because they're trying to believe with the mind. And there's no faith in that mind. Then what is the role of the mind? To be renewed. To agree with the faith that's in your spirit, not argue with the faith that's in your spirit. The mind is to be brought into agreement with the Word. It's called the renewing of the mind. But you cannot believe God with the mind. You believe God with your heart, and your heart teaches your mind, faith, thoughts. This is how faith, your spirit moving in faith is, say, mine. This is how you're thinking about this. This is. We can think faith, thoughts, but there's no faith. In the seat of our faith is our spirit. But we renew the mind, bringing it into God's way of thinking. So when you come to talk things over, don't bring your mind, bring your spirit, bring your heart. This is a divine, spiritual transaction. And it's going to take faith to receive what he's going to say to you. That's why you can't just take your mind. Because your mind will choke on what he would say. Your mind will tilt on what he would try to show you about your future. How many times people, they perceive something in their heart and they say, oh, I can't do that. That's because you brought your mind to this thing. And can I say it further? You brought the unrenewed mind because the renewed mind agrees with God. The unrenewed mind argues against what God shows, what God reveals. But you have to receive everything with your spirit first. You receive it with your spirit first. And then you bring that mind into agreement through renewing it with what God said. This is why the first generation of Hebrews did not enter the promised land. They never renewed their mind to what God said. And they tried. They went spying out the land with their mind instead of their heart. And their mind saw we're grasshoppers. That's where your mind arrives. You calculating God out. Joshua and Caleb took what God said and built it in them. Built it in them, built it in them. They renewed their minds. And they said, let's do it. We can do it. Let's go now. Right. That's because those 10 of the 12 spies took their mind to go spy. They didn't take the word of the Lord with them. They took their mind. And your mind will rob from you. Your mind is not your enemy. Why? God gave you your mind. The devil tries to hijack your mind. He tries to hijack it for his purposes, his thoughts. So that you'll carry his thoughts through your life. The devil wants to do your thinking for you. Just know that. He wants to do your thinking for you. And the only way you're going to do your thinking yourself is you'll renew your mind with what the word says. What an honor to know that. What a privilege to do that. And what a joy, not a hardship. It's the unrenewed mind that makes life difficult. Yeah. So God invites us to come and talk things over. Like I said, don't just bring your mind, bring your heart. Bring your faith with you. Father, I'm going to say some things to you by faith. And I know you have some things to say to me because. And it's faith that you're going to talk to me. Because God doesn't talk out of faith. And to hear it takes faith. True. Amen. It takes faith to hear it. So in hearing what he has to say about your life and your situations, the outcome is different. When he is heard. When he is heard, the devil can start anything he wants. That's not your difficulty, that he starts something that he opposes. You win when you bring what God says to what the devil tried to start. You finish it. You finish it. My mother used to say this to us four kids. You can start anything with me. You're big enough to let me finish. Because she said, anything you start, I'm finishing you Will not finish something you start with me, you start talking back to me, I will finish it. So before you start it, make sure you're big enough to take the finish that I'm going to give you. That is so good. You're welcome, parents. So when the devil starts something, we bring what God says to that thing. We finish it. We finish it. Amen. Hallelujah. Verse 20. Let me say this. If we don't come, he says, come. Now let's talk this over. If we don't come, we're not going to hear what he said has to say. And then he can't protect us from the enemy he's warning us about in verse 20. This is the. This is the protection against that which wants to devour you, is talking to him about things, talking to him about it. God has the power to protect us, but the primary, one of the primary ways he employs that power to protect us is through speaking to us. You understand that people want just power to zap and things are removed. Power. One of his primary flows of power is he says something. He says something and we join our faith to it. And there's power in what he says to protect us. Amen. To keep us, to put us on course, to change anything that needs to change. Many times people think, I just need God to do this. I just need God to do this. When we need to remember what the centurion servant. Speak the word only. Speak the word only. Because everything I need is in words. And God says, come, let's talk this over. Let's have an exchange of words. Why? Because once his words are heard, your words get better, don't they? I mean, you might have started the conversation with God one way, then he talks and it flips your whole conversation, right? What did that. His words. His words heard. Yeah, his words heard. Hallelujah. Our protection is in our hearing. Our safety is in our hearing. Hearing him. But notice what he says come. Meaning this. He doesn't tell us when to leave. He just says come. So stay as long as you want. And the longer you stay, the more you hear. The longer you stay, the more you hear. Yeah. If we bypass coming, we bypass hearing. If we fail to come, we fail to hear. Yeah. You'll remember the story when dad Hagin talked about he had been on the road, traveling. He'd come home for a short time. You can imagine that because he was home so few days in between meetings, there was much business of his, of his home life, just ministry business to take care of. He was home for he didn't say how long on this one, this one time, but he was home, and him and Mom Hagin were getting ready to make the next trip. And for several days, dad Hagin had been having this sense of. Of being thrown from a vehicle. He said, I just kept having the sense of being thrown. And he said. So when him and Mom Hagin got in the car to make the next trip, he turned to her and said, put on your seatbelt. Now, that would have been an ordeal back then, because to put on your seatbelt back then, you had to find it. They weren't shoulder straps. They were just. Just low across the lap and they were shoved down. You remember it, right? You remember it? Yeah. You other people who are going like this, I'm sorry, I apologize to you for your lack of education. But, I mean, you would have to. You'd have to get out of the car to find it sometimes because you'd have to lift the seat some so. Cause it was embedded in between the seats that you. They were optional and no one took the option. And so it was an odd thing when dad Hagin turned to her and said, put your seatbelt on. You understand when he said that, I know that you're. What, like you're trying to quench me? Because that was just. We just. Right, right, Pastor, we didn't do that. You didn't put your seat. You just didn't do it. Yeah. I don't know. You were a policeman. Did you ever do yours? Yeah, right. Nobody did. And it wasn't a law back then. It wasn't. So we weren't law breakers. We were living large. So you can understand that she would have been a little bit surprised at that request. I'm just trying to paint the picture of how unusual that was. And so they go down the road, they travel, they get to the place where they're preaching. He's preaching at a place. He had been there. I think it was the second day or so he was there. And his son called and said, dad. Speaking of dad, Hagin's niece said, ann was just killed today. She was thrown from a car and was killed. And she had young children. She was in her 20s. And so when dad Hagin talked to God about it, he said, I recognize I was picking that up, but I didn't know what that was pertaining to. That's why he said to his wife, because sometimes you don't know. You're just perceiving, but you only know in part. Know this when you know in part. That's an invitation to take the part, you know, to God and hear the whole. Yeah, that's good. He's trying to stir you up to ask him about the whole thing. Have you ever gone through your life at a time and you sense a change or transition coming? You sense that you can't even articulate what that is. You just sense that that's not so you can say, I sense that that's so you will go to him and ask. He's trying to initiate you asking because you have not, because you ask not, and because we sometimes don't even know to ask. He's inviting us to ask by letting us perceive something, helping us to perceive something so that we'll ask. Because he will not move uninvited. Yeah, that's good. Why will he not move uninvited? Because of his great honor. He. He will not violate anyone. He's so honorable. He will not insert himself uninvited. So he will, if I could say this, kind of try to whet your appetite so that you'll ask. So when dad Hagin perceived that, had that sense of being thrown from a vehicle, that was the invitation to say, go to God and say, what is this? Not just say, I perceive it. Because perceiving it is almost. Sometimes it's equal to potential. When you say somebody, they got a lot of potential. Well, so what? Nobody ever got rich off of potential. Potential just means it's possible. Perceiving means it's almost like that. Because until you have clarity and accuracy with what you're perceiving, there's no benefit from what you're perceiving. See, he perceived that, but it didn't change anything. It didn't bring any benefit just by perceiving it. Right? Right. Amen. That's right. That's good. So God said to him, what you should have done. See, we learn, right? He said, what you should have done is you should have come to me and taken time in the spirit. He said, the reason you missed that is you were too busy with natural things. You had not given yourself enough time in the spirit. What is time in the spirit? Talking it over with him. You're in a place. You're in a place. You're not just doing mental exchange. You step into a place and you talk to him in that place. It's a further place. And there's always further to go. There's always. We can always go further in that place of fellowship with him. And the further we go, the more clearer we hear and the more fully things are shown and recognized by us. Amen. So this is what God said to dad Hagin. You missed that because you had not given yourself enough time in the spirit. How many things have we just missed because we didn't talk it over. We didn't talk it over. Another thing, when he says talk it over, come let's talk this over, says the Lord. And what I said, in talking it over, you're expressing what's in your heart. Then he's expressing what's in his heart. And there's no talking it over if it's one sided. So comprise in your time of fellowship must be hearing or you're missing fellowship. You're not fellowshipping, you're just talking, you're doing all the talking. If there's no hearing, I know what I know. I need to know what he knows. That's why hearing is very important to me. Sometimes I will just sit, just sit, just sit and practice hearing, practice noticing him, practice quieting everything just so he is what I notice. Amen. So on another occasion when it says come, let's talk this over, dad Hagin talked about the time he was pleading his case regarding his mom. She had had a difficult life and he was so pleased to be able to take care of her as he and mom Hagin, you know, got married and they could take her in and she lived with them. I don't know for how long. Maybe you all know, was it long? I don't know, but I know till she went home to be with the Lord. And when she turned 70 she was given a diagnosis and brother Hagin prayed and I love the intimacy because when you're spending much time talking things over with God, your talking sounds different than people who don't spend much time talking things over. And others might be appalled at things you would say, but it's because you're so intimate. And so dad Hagin was believing God for his mother's recovery at 70 years old. And he said it's best to let her go on home. That's what God said to him. And he said, let me plead my side, God. He said, I'm just now financially getting to the place where I can take care of her the way I wanted to all along. And I just don't feel right about it. I love this. He said, I just don't. You've probably heard it, you might can even tell it better. I just don't feel right about her not living longer. I want to be able to take care of her. And he said, and I'm not gonna get offended, God, if she's not raised up. But I'm just gonna remind you, all through eternity, I don't feel right about that. All through eternity, every little bit, I'm gonna come to you and say, I still don't feel right about that. Now see us, we go, ha, ha ha. But that's the intimacy of having spent much time talking things over. That was a normal flow for him to get that frank and intimate and detailed. And so he said, and God said it would be best to let her come on home. And he said, but I will fulfill your request. And then he said, I will give her another 10 years. She lived. And a few days after she was 80, she went home to be with the Lord. But then dad Hagin went back and he said this. He said, God was telling me it would have been better to let her go on home to be with the Lord at 70. And he said, and I should have listened to him. Because she suffered much during those 10 years from 70 to 80, her health broke down more and more and she did not have the spiritual fortitude to lay hold of some things. Dad Hagin's faith could help her so far. But her faith, she didn't have the same foundation in her. And so things that were easy for him were a struggle for her. And so she struggled for 10 years. And dad Hagin said, I should have listened to God's side of the conversation. He said, all I was doing was listening to my side of the conversation and why. And God said that. And basically, and I'm not saying it word for word, but paraphrasing, he said, it would have been better if I would have listened to God and let her go home to be with the Lord at 70. So what is this? Come, let's talk things over. Let's talk it over. In talking it over, you have to be willing to hear what he would say. Some people want to talk it over as long as what he says is what they've decided. So when we say we want to talk it over, that means we really want to hear. Because everybody's had this. I've had, you know, people come and say, I want to talk to you about such and such. I just wanted to about talk, talk it over with you. Well, you've already made the decisions. You've already made moves. Let's not do a courtesy talk just so you can say, you talk to me about it. Because if you're decided, it's not a talk, it's a decision. So when we go To God. Let's not go to him with decisions and saying, I'm coming to talk it over. And God didn't say anything different. Well, if, sometimes if you've already decided and he knows you've already decided, he knows. This is not a talking it over, it's an informing session. So to talk it over with him, we must go undecided so that we're ready to listen to what he would say. That doesn't mean we don't have a preference. I mean, we're human. We have. We have our own will. But it's not a talking it over if you're not giving him room to talk. Amen. That's right. And you know what? Most of you are chuckling because we've all been there, right? Have you ever had a conversation with somebody and you know they're not listening? You know, they're just loading their gun behind the back, so to speak. And what I mean, loading the gun, they're loading their next argument. They're loading. And you know, they're not even listening to you. They're thinking what the next thing is they're going to say. When God says, come and let's talk, he's not sitting there loading his gun, so to speak, his mental gun. He's really intending for there to be a divine exchange. And he invites us into that. Amen. The more we come to talk things over with God, the more he will show us things to come. John, chapter 16. The Holy Spirit will show you things to come. Who is that that is going to get to partake of those things to come? Those who come. Those who come, come to hear, not just come to. As a token of. I checked off my prayer time with God today. Amen. Why does it seem like some know God's plan and direction for their lives with clarity while others just seem to bump from wall to wall? It's because of what we're about. Talking. Talking about hearing. Hearing. Coming to hear. The Word tells us on several occasions during Jesus earthly ministry that the multitudes came to hear and be healed. Hear and be healed. Hear and be healed. Hear and have the need met. Hear and have the miracle. It's a package deal. People want a separate deal. This is not a la carte. I want the healing, but I don't want to have to hear anything. This is not a la carte, it's a package deal. You got to take the whole plate special, right? We're not doing a la carte. This is an Amazon. I picked this in my cart. I Put this in my cart. Now I put this in my cart. I'm gonna leave these things on the shelf, but I'll take these things with God. Things are package deals. Why? Because he's blessing the whole. He's blessing the whole. So the whole must be partaken of so that the whole can be blessed. Jesus went everywhere teaching, preaching and healing. It's a package deal. Many want the healing, but they don't want to come to hear the teaching. They don't want to come to hear the preaching. Well, but they want the healing. No, see, this is a package deal. It's a package deal. This is not. Throw it in your cart of which one of those you want and then check out. It's a package deal. Those who received his teaching, those who received his preaching are those who received their healing. Those who did not receive the teaching. Those who did not receive the preaching did not receive the heat. You say, well, who is that? Nazareth. Who is that? Pharisees. Who's that? Rulers of the synagogue, doctors of the law, the religious leaders. Why? Because they didn't receive his teaching. They didn't receive his preaching. Therefore they could not receive the power. The power. That's right. Because healing is power. It is. Not everybody needs healing. Sometimes people need something in their home or something in their finances. But that healing is a representation of power. Teaching, preaching, healing, teaching, preaching, power, Teaching, preaching, miracle. And because he could not, because in Nazareth, they did not listen to his side, they couldn't receive of the power flow. And you'll remember there it says he could there do no mighty work. And then it says next in the next verse, he went about their cities and villages, teaching, teaching. Because if he's going to get the power to them, he's got to get the teaching to him. What's that mean? He's got to get them to hear. He's got to get him to hear. He's got to get them to hear. He's got to get them to hear. What's that mean? Our miracle is in our hearing. Our miracle is in our hearing. What's this mean? Our direction for our life is in our hearing. It's in our hearing. It's not in our getting excited about something we plan and going gung ho. Because zeal does not equal skill. Zeal is not the leading of the Spirit just because you're excited about it. And just because you. Oh, yeah, that sounds really good. And then you move your family from one location to the next, from one location to the next. And then the thing is you lose confidence. Why? Because of lack of hearing. Lack of hearing. Lack of hearing, yeah. So why does it seem that some live accurately and some bump from problem to crisis to tragedy? God never planned anything for any human except the good life. But the good Life. Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 10. The Amplified Call. Translation. It says, taking paths which he prepared ahead of time that we should walk in them living the good life. How do we take paths which he prepared ahead of time? One way. By hearing. Hearing. What direction do I go? What step is next? Where do I plant my family? What church do I attend? Who's my pastor? What job do I take? Who do I marry? Not like I want to get married. No. Who does God say? Who does God say? Let me help some of you backwards social media people, because you only know how to court on stage social media. Am I wrong? Let me tell you can't court via social media. You have to court in person. That's right. And if he asks you out on a text, he will break up with you on a text. None of that's in my notes. This has to be divine help. It is. People need to hear. Now, let me finish where I'm going on this, okay? What's this mean? People want to hear God. I want to hear who to marry. Then you better show some interest in somebody. People want to just sit at home and hear a voice, you better get out and let somebody see you who is pastor, can you. Social media can't see you. And I'm gonna just say. I'm just gonna say people don't look like they look on social media. And I'm gonna say something because I know you know it. Anyway. Those of you who see me in person, I don't look like I look on Jesus the healer. You say, boy, I can't believe you said it. You can see it bothers. Why would it bother me to say it? You can see it. I don't look airbrushed in life. I. I paid for all that. I paid for this, too. You're just gonna pay. What am I saying? God never told me I was gonna marry my husband until after I had been on a date. Save pastor. Save pastor. Say. Come on. As long as you. As long as you don't hear these words, go on a date. You will never hear they're the one. Well, I just don't believe in dating. You'll be single a very long time. I'm not saying date everything. I'm not saying that. But I am saying you have to be interested enough to step over your flesh. You want to get back to Isaiah? Come, let's talk this over. I'm Only on page 2 of 11. Do you think I have time? Even the way I have always approached. Approach a service this way. I approach everything this way. Way. Unless if I'm not quite certain. I test things sometimes. You don't know till you take an action. You have to have some action. God can direct. You can't steer a parked car. You have to get that thing moving. But you don't have to get it moving at 150 miles an hour, people. It can just back out of the driveway real slow. That's the way many times I do in a service if I'm not quite certain what God wants to do in a service. I take a direction that seems right, but I don't just zoom down it. I just touch into it. And if I sense an anointing, I keep going. If I don't sense an anointing, I back up and I go a different direction. It's a simple. Same thing with anything in life. You got to give God something to direct. He's got to have some motion. And if you're just sitting at home believing for a spouse and you're not giving him anything to direct. And I'm not saying date everything on the block. I'm saying make movement. But hear, be listening. Have your. As dad Hagen would say, your spiritual intent. Up. Make some move. Slight. Just go up and talk to someone. And does it seem that there's a. This is good. Then I will talk more than five minutes. I'm trying to help some people that seem backward because we don't need to be backward in this. Do I dare say it? I'm going to say it. Yeah. What is this? And I'm going to stand in front of this couple while I'm saying it. What is this? That you date in secret for a long, long, long period of time, and then you come up, you're going to get married. Nobody even knew you were dating. What is that? Good thing. It worked. But. But I try to tell these people, these young people, it's all secret. It's all secret. You're not the center of my world. You're not really. Your dating life is not really up there and epic in my life. So it's okay that somebody knows you're dating and if they don't know why you're dating, why, why? Why? I'm just trying to help. I'm just trying to help. I don't. We never did this. No, we didn't. This is not scriptural at all. It's just. It's just life lived. It's life experience. Pastor Debbie, when you dated, did not everybody in school know who each other was dating? And this generation? Oh, we're hiding it. Why? What you doing? Where you going? Who are they? If you can't put it out there for the rest of the world, yes. This is a prayer conference. I don't know why I'm off on this, but I'm trying to help. I'm trying to help people who just. They don't think right. They don't. They don't think right. Why? Because you have hidden behind a phone for so long. That is right. That is right. Stand up, be a man. Say, do you want to go out? And if they say, wait, listen. And if they say no, be a man and take the no. That's part of how you grow up. That's part of the maturing process. It's not protecting yourself. So you have nothing. But I love you. You're wonderful. You're great. All around you all the time. My mother never complimented me. We never got all of this. We were only talked to when we were told that it was wrong. And if you weren't told it was wrong, it was a compliment. Yeah. And if she didn't tell you you were wrong, then you're good. Keep going. Keep going. But with social media, they need likes. They need likes. Likes. I'm going to give you a like. Like Christ. Like him. Like him. We are made like him. So since we're made like him, all the other likes don't matter. Or all the dislikes don't matter. If y' all weren't so carnal, I'd stay on prayer. What am I talking about? I'm talking about you have to. You have to be making movement so God has something to direct. The steps of a righteous man are ordered. The steps. The movement. The movement. The faith. Enough to ask somebody out. Well, she might not like me. No, she might not. So what? Join the rest of the men in the world because everybody's been declined of something. That's. This is real life, people. Serious. So you guys. You bet. I'm just telling us, let's say World Harvest Church, single girls, if they ask you on a text, text back, no, because they're not enough to ask them person. And you need someone who's enough. I don't care that some are mad. I don't care. My mother never complimented me, so I don't. And I Didn't grow up crooked and I don't have a chip on my shoulder. It's real life. It's real life. It's real life, people. Okay, let's get back to it. Now, I can say things in my church building, But people, you can't make confessions without movements of faith. Confession is not the end. All confession is so that you'll know how to. By his stripes. I'm healed. Oh, so then I'm going to act that way. I'm going to act healed. I'm believing God for a spouse. Then you better act like there's one out there. Seriously, you have to go where people are. The right people are right. You have to. You have to. And can I tell you this? If people are missing it in these very basic things of human nature, you're going to struggle in spiritual things. You're going to struggle in spiritual things when it's so awkward for you just to make natural movement as just a human being functioning in this world. Because we're to be successful in both realms, the spiritual realm and this realm. Well, I'm only interested in the things of God. Well, the things of God will dominate this realm. God wants you successful in both realms. Praise the Lord. So why does it seem like some people hear from God? When I talk to God, I expect him to talk back. I expect him to. I expect him to. I grew up talking to God not knowing you needed to be born again. I talked to him all the time. And you know what? He. He talked back, but not the way he talks back now, because he wasn't in me. I would hear him out here, talk to me and the peace and the clarity. And then when I got born again, then I got the inward witness. And I'm not looking for a voice. I always have the inward witness. Always, always, always. In every situation. He will witness in every situation. And we need to be good at recognizing that, because that's part of hearing. Part of hearing. Amen. Well, we better stop there. But you got to come back the next several nights. If God has us to go this way, maybe you'll come back with a date sitting next to you. Right, Cindy? David. Right. Growing up in junior high and high school, we all knew what? We all knew it. Well, I just don't want people up in my business. Well, then turn then. Get rid of your phone. Get rid of your phone. Get rid of your phone. Because you're on an earth with other people. That's right. Some people are smiling and some people aren't. I don't know what to tell you. Can I ask you this? Don't you think God is showing us? He says, come, let's talk this over. You know what you know, that's how to. That's how you deal with people, come to them, talk things over. If you can't come and talk something over with someone from your heart, how are you going to do that? Very freely with God. And that's what I'm saying. This generation, it's all this. It's not talking it over, it's putting the best foot forward and being bold, being bold to confront as long as there's a screen. But if they had to address something in person, they don't know how to do that. This all does play into our skill with him. Amen. Praise the Lord. I have told our staff, if you have a disagreement agreement with a staff member, you better not email and text each other about that. You better walk into their office and talk it out. Because I'm not going to let you sit and be coward behind a screen. And that's how you protect the family. You go in and you face to face talk. You face to face talk. This face to face stuff matters. God talked to Moses face to face. And if you're content with screen to screen, you'll never really understand the intimacy of face to face, heart to heart, sincerity to sincerity instead of playing and being a player. Because these are all practiced flows. And you can practice the wrong flow a mighty long time. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Stand with me to your feet tonight. Father, we thank you for divine help. We thank you for divine help. We give you glory. We give you thanks. Father, when you say, come, let's talk this over, it's important to you, it's personal to you to have that time with your, your family, your children, because you have so much for us. Thank you for that privilege, that royal invitation. Come, let's talk. Talk this over. So, Father, we were more mindful to take our place. Thank you for this word, thank you for this verse, these verses. Thank you for making us clean by the blood of Jesus so we can come and talk things over to you. With no sin consciousness, no harassment of the past, no accusation of the accuser getting an entrance into us, because the blood makes us clean, whole new and one with you. And we thank you for it. Hallelujah. You want to do something, David? That song you just said? Yes. I think this is fitting for this.
- [68:34]
B
Lord, you hear my prayer? Lord, you answer me. This is the confidence I have. This is why I say I receive so I boldly come Knowing it'll be done right there when you hear my pray oh yes, Lord Lord, you hear my prayer Lord, you answer you answer.
- [69:13]
A
Me.
- [69:16]
B
This is the confidence I have this is why I say I receive so I boldly knowing it'll be knowing it'll be done right there when you hear my pray Lord, you hear my Lord, you answer Lord, you answer me this is this is the comforted this is why I say so I knowing it'll be done yes, right there right there when you hear Right there when you hear it Right there right there when you hear it my prayer Right there right there when you hear my pray.
- [70:27]
A
Hallelujah. Expecting to hear. Expecting to hear. Don't you think that we can put every bit as much confidence in our time of fellowship with the Father as we put in our confidence? When we come to a church service, we're expecting the pastor to preach to us. We're expecting to hear something in that service. That's why we come. We would never. We would be. We would be dumbstruck if we showed up and the preacher said, just don't have anything to say. Same day we'd go we in the wrong place. We wouldn't accept that. Well, why would we accept? It's that sometimes everything else is so loud we're not hearing right. I like something. Morgan was preaching on, I don't know, in the recent weeks, and she said so many times people want to get God louder when it's just your job to turn down the noise. The noise of the mind, the noise of the flesh, the noise of circumstances. Because God's never not speaking. Why? Because his words are still moving. Amen. Hallelujah. Father, we thank you, we thank you, we thank you. 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.