The Whispers Of War

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Whispers Of War"

Podcast: Elevation with Steven Furtick
Date: November 9, 2025
Host: Steven Furtick (Elevation Church)
Episode Theme:
A deep exploration of the internal "war of whispers"—the spiritual and psychological battles waged in the quiet places of our hearts and minds, especially when under pressure, rejection, or uncertainty. Drawing from John 7 and Isaiah 54, Pastor Furtick unpacks how Jesus navigated pressure, expectations, abandonment, and affirmation, and offers practical wisdom for listeners experiencing their own internal wars.

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1. Episode Overview: The “War of Whispers”

• Central Message:
  • Pastor Steven focuses on how subtle, internal "whispers"—both divine encouragement and enemy discouragement—shape our reactions to life’s pressures.
  • By examining Jesus’ journey in John 7, Furtick identifies the sources and solutions to these battles, emphasizing that victory comes not by silencing negativity but by choosing which voice to agree with.

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2. Key Discussion Points & Insights

A. Setting the Stage: Scripture & Purpose

• Scripture Readings:

  • John 7:1-16: Jesus faces both amazement and skepticism while attending the Festival of Tabernacles.
  • Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper…”
    [(05:07)]

• Purpose Stated:

  • “I want to talk to you today about the war—the war of whispers.” (06:07, Steven Furtick)

B. Four Pressures Jesus Faced (“The 4 A’s”)

• Amazement

• Abandonment

• Arrival

• Agreement
  (06:40-08:04)

• Insight:

  • Even Jesus, the Son of God, navigated immense pressures as He fulfilled His purpose.
  • “It helps us in times of our humanity…to know we have a high priest…one who was tempted in all points, just like we are, yet without sin.” (08:38, Steven Furtick)

C. The Pressure of Amazement: When Others Are Awed But Don’t Understand

• Discussion:

  • Jesus taught with knowledge that amazed crowds, despite never being formally trained by the religious establishment.
  • Personal Note: Furtick draws a parallel with parenting and the sense of “doing more than we should be able to.”
  • “It’s amazing that you’re doing as well as you are, considering where you’ve come from.” (09:47, Steven Furtick)

• Memorable Illustration:

  • “You could spend the next five years trying to figure out something God could fix in five minutes if you could hear from Him.” (13:25, Steven Furtick)

D. The Significance of the Whisper

• Furtick’s Personal Struggle:

  • Losing his voice just before this message, he contemplated canceling but realized the power of a whisper itself.
  • “The Lord said, well, if a whisper is what you have, then a whisper is what you’ll give.” (14:57, Assistant & Congregant)

• Practical Application:

  • God often speaks guidance, correction, or encouragement not in dramatic declarations, but in subtle whispers—often contrary to the noise of others' opinions.
  • “Some of you are making decisions in your life and it’s so noisy…But I want to give them a whisper.” (15:27, Steven Furtick)

E. Abandonment: When Support Disappears

• Biblical Example:

  • After feeding the 5,000, many stopped following Jesus (John 6:66).
  • “He was amazing, but he was also abandoned.” (27:06, Steven Furtick)

• Real-Life Connection:

  • “If Jesus had people leave his life and he was perfect…how do we expect we’ll make it through life without ever being rejected?” (27:42, Steven Furtick)

• Personal Application:

  • Furtick describes how feeling abandoned or misunderstood is pervasive—and normal—even for those chosen by God.
  • “Don’t let them leaving you keep you from believing in Me.” (31:46, Steven Furtick – paraphrasing God)

F. Arrival: Refusing to Rush or Prove Yourself

• Jesus’ Response to Pressure:

  • Jesus’ brothers push Him to go public; He resists, saying “My time has not yet come.” (03:02; 16:42)

• Key Point:

  • “Not everything God has given you to do needs to be run by a committee…Not everything God has called you to be will align with what you see reflected in the environment around you.” (16:42, Steven Furtick)

• Affirmation:

  • “I like my life.”
  • Furtick encourages the church to embrace their present circumstances as God-ordained instead of always seeking more or different. (38:34-39:37)

G. Agreement: The Battle Between Truth and Lies

• Internal Conflict:

  • The world, the enemy, and even well-meaning people will whisper doubts, accusations, or distractions.
  • “There is a war happening in your heart. It’s not loud. There’s no bombs going off…But underneath…there’s a war going on and there’s a whisper.” (47:03, Steven Furtick)

• Illustrative Story:

  • Furtick candidly shares about hearing affirmations from his wife Holly, only to inwardly counter them with negative, enemy-inspired whispers.
  • Quote: “It was the space between her words that were filled by whispers from the enemy.” (49:00-50:10, Steven Furtick)

• Key Teaching:

  • The victory isn’t in silencing the negative voice but in refusing to agree with it. (52:48; 54:07, Steven Furtick)

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3. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “God can speak something in one whisper that can do more than all of your human wisdom.” (13:25, Steven Furtick)

• “The pressure of being amazing is that you have to sustain it.” (23:10, Steven Furtick)

• “If Jesus had people leave his life…and he was perfect…how do we expect we’ll make it through our life without ever being abandoned?” (27:42, Steven Furtick)

• “Sometimes you get so sad about who left that you start missing who’s left.” (35:05, Steven Furtick)

• “Not everything God has given you to do needs to be run by a committee.” (16:42, Steven Furtick)

• “The greatest truth that I ever realized: wherever people leave a space, God does a miracle.” (36:30, Steven Furtick)

• “The whisper you listen to is the one that wins.” (54:47, Responsive Listener)

• “It’s not important that you get that other whisper to go away. It’s important that you don’t agree with it.” (56:36, Steven Furtick)

• “I am enough.” (59:07, Responsive Listener)

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4. Key Timestamps & Segments

• [02:07] – Welcome, setup for the message
• [05:07] – Reading from John 7; highlighting the theme of “whispers”
• [06:40-08:04] – The Four Pressures (“Amazement, Abandonment, Arrival, Agreement”)
• [13:25] – Value of God’s whisper over human wisdom
• [14:57-15:27] – Furtick receives God’s challenge to preach, even with just a whisper
• [16:42] – Choosing not to run life’s calling by committee; uniqueness of your calling
• [27:06] – Even Jesus was abandoned; personalizing the pain of rejection
• [31:46] – “Don’t let them leaving you keep you from believing in Me.”
• [35:05] – Don’t miss who stayed because you’re focusing on who left
• [38:34-39:37] – Embracing “I like my life” as spiritual contentment
• [47:03] – Realization of the ever-present “war of whispers” inside
• [49:00-50:10] – Furtick’s vulnerable confession about battling inner whispers
• [54:47] – “The whisper you listen to is the one that wins.”
• [56:36-59:10] – Guided affirmations and prayer (“God is with me,” “I am enough.”)
• [60:21-61:48] – Invitation to accept Christ

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5. Takeaways & Practical Application

• The most significant battles often happen in silence—in the space between others’ words and in your own thoughts.
• God often speaks in whispers, especially when life is overwhelming or lonely. The measure of your spiritual life isn’t the absence of negative “whispers” but your agreement with God’s truth.
• When facing abandonment or pressure to perform, remember Jesus was in the same place. Your value and purpose are not determined by crowds, critics, or even your own doubts.
• Celebrate what you have (“I like my life”) and listen for the affirming whisper of God, not the enemy.
• Key action: When negative, defeating whispers rise, consciously choose to agree with God’s voice, not the enemy’s.
• “The whisper you listen to is the one that wins.” (54:47)

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Closing Invitation:

• Listeners are led in a prayer to accept Jesus and affirmed:
  “You are not alone. God is with you. You are enough. And it’s not over.”

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Overall Tone:
Warm, honest, humorous, and candid—Pastor Steven shares biblical insight while making space for vulnerable moments and practical encouragement, challenging listeners not only to consider which whispers fill their hearts but to courageously agree with God’s word above all else.

Transcript

[Steven Furtick]

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[Steven Furtick]

Hey this is Steven Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. I do want to say welcome to our worldwide church family. Let's welcome our EFAM one time. Come on Elevation Ballantine.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Let's thank God.

[Steven Furtick]

For all of those who are joining us online, also, since it's Veterans Day weekend, I want to thank all of you who have served our country in any branch of the service. Thank you so much.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

We can do better than that.

[Steven Furtick]

I know you're holding your Bible, but gotta get those hands free. I thank the Lord for each and every one of you.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

You.

[Steven Furtick]

I'm excited about what he will speak today. John, chapter 7, verse 1:16. The Bible says after this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. But when the Jewish festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus brothers said to him, leave Galilee and go to Judea so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world. For even his own brothers did not believe in him. Wow. Verse 6. Therefore, Jesus told them, my time is not yet here. For you, anytime will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival because my time has not yet fully come. It's a good thing to know you're right where God wants you to be. It's a good thing when you know that, not to move, no matter what anybody says to you about it. He said, my time has not yet fully come. After he said this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. Now at the festival, the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, where is he? Among the crowds, there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, he's a good man. Others replied, no, he deceives the people. But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Not until halfway through the festival did.

[Steven Furtick]

Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, how did this man get such learning without having been taught? Well, that's an ironic question. The one who is wisdom is being questioned as to where he got it. Verse 16 is where we're going to begin our sermonic journey today. Jesus answered, my teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. I want to give you one more scripture From Isaiah, chapter 54, verse 17. In the new King James.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

No weapon formed against you shall prosper. And every tongue which rises against you.

[Steven Furtick]

In judgment, you shall condemn.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

This is the heritage of the servants.

[Steven Furtick]

Of the Lord and their righteousness is from me, says the Lord.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

I want to talk to you today about the war.

[Steven Furtick]

The War of whispers. Father, I thank you for what you spoke. Help me to give it to them like you gave it to me. Not watered down, not weakened, but just like you gave it to me. I know it will bless them because you blessed me with it. If there is someone today who needs this word online, block out all distractions. I pray that their kid would just.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Fall down and take a nap right.

[Steven Furtick]

Now so they can focus on this word in the name of Jesus. If there's somebody who's focused on something else that's going to happen tomorrow, we.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Block it out right now.

[Steven Furtick]

The Lord is in this place. We ask you to speak a word. We are listening in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. The War of Whispers I want to talk to you from four dynamics from this Bible story that represent four different pressures Jesus was under in his life. We will definitely get to the first three and the fourth is a maybe, depending on time. I'm going to give them all to you right now so you can fill in the blanks as we go along. In this passage. There are four pressures Jesus is under. Jesus, the Son of God, was under tremendous pressure as he fulfilled his purpose in the earth. I think he serves for us as a model of what to do for the pressure we feel in our life. So I'm going to give you all four things, all four pressures as we begin our sermon. They all start with the letter A. They will be easy to remember. Amazement, amazement number two. Abandonment number three.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Arrival.

[Steven Furtick]

Number four. If we get there, agreement. These four pressures and more. I mean Jesus, the Son of God, who took on the weakness of sinful flesh not because he was sin, but he became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God, who had then only three years to fulfill the mission of his ministry, which would lead him ultimately to the cross, where he would die and pay for the penalty of our sin, experienced tremendous pressure, not only on the cross, where the pressure was so great that it actually caused his lungs to collapse from physical exertion. But even before that, in the Garden of Gethsemane, as he prayed such a heavy prayer that his sweat became like drops of blood. That's pressure. I know you're going through a lot too, but your capillaries haven't burst like blood yet, have they? It helps us in times of our humanity when our weakness is great, to know that we have a high priest named Jesus who is not unable to be touched with the feelings of our infirmity, but one who is tempted in all points, just like we are, yet without sin. Now, that's the difference between me and Jesus. He was under pressure, and I'm under pressure, but he always stays focused on purpose, and I don't. I get distracted. When I'm under pressure, I start reacting rather than responding. When I'm under pressure, I start eating things I said I wouldn't eat under pressure, speaking things I said I wouldn't speak under pressure. Anyway, in my pressure state, I am often vulnerable. This moment in the life of Jesus is very interesting, isn't it? The Bible says he went to Jerusalem for one of the feasts, the feast of Tabernacles. When he got there, they were amazed at the way he taught. They were amazed. I don't know if you noticed that in verse number 18, it says the Jews there, verse number 15, they were amazed. And they asked, how did this man get such learning without being taught? They didn't teach him, so they couldn't understand how he could have learned so much outside of their system. I told you this a few weeks ago, but my son Graham, who wrestled for three years in high school, would say, dad, when I look back on when I used to start wrestling, I'm amazed how much you taught me with how little you knew. Which is a compliment, kind of. He means it's not like you were some kind of great wrestler, but somehow you were always coaching me. When you were coaching me in the early days, I thought you knew so much more than you did, but you were basically just yelling the same three things over and over again, weren't you? I thought to myself, yes, and that is my parenting strategy as well, just to keep saying the same three things over and over again. There's something about this moment in your life that if you're honest about it, even though there are some pressures you're under and some problems you're facing, it's amazing that you're doing as well as you are, considering where you've come from. How many of you would say, pastor Steven, you would be shocked how loud I sang today if you knew how hard my week has been. Wave at me. Well, look at you just feeling sorry for yourself. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I baited you for that. The fact of the matter is, in Jesus case, he came from heaven, so he had the knowledge that came from being at the right hand of God eternally. He was the word of God. He didn't just speak the Word of God. The knowledge he had reflected the place he came from. Yet the Jewish leaders were very amazed. Keep that word in your mind. That he could know so much when he had been exposed to so little of their system. It's ironic, I know, because in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were made by him and through him and for him. We're talking about Jesus. When they see him, they are amazed at him and they are amazed about the things they are hearing. He is doing. Jesus at this point in his ministry, has been doing amazing ministry in the region of Galilee. He has been turning water into wine at weddings when his mom told him to do it. Yeah, that's John, chapter two. When they ran out of wine, he would just somehow make it flow. That's amazing. Anytime you have somebody who can create overflow where there was one scarcity, it's amazing. Everybody say it's amazing. One time a centurion needed a healing for his little boy and Jesus was busy. So he didn't go to his house. He just sent His Word and healed him. He didn't even go to his house. He just sent His Word and healed him. Maybe the Word of God is going to beat you home today too and deal with some things you've been going through because of the Word you heard while you were here. You always make a wise decision when you come to church. Church, because God can speak something in one whisper that can do more than all of your human wisdom. You could spend the next five years trying to figure out something God could fix in five minutes if you could hear from Him. That's why I value the Word of God. That's why when I come to church, I'm not checking to see who just buzzed me in my back pocket. They can buzz me all they want to buzz me, but while I'm in here, the Bible is buzzing me. God is speaking to me. I have a text message alert from heaven. There may be something God wants to say to me about why I'm stressed out. God might want to speak to me about the root of my bitterness so I can let this thing go and move on in my life. God might actually want to give me a strategy to break through to my wife because maybe we've been going through.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

A difficult time and maybe he's going to show me something. I haven't been thinking about how I.

[Steven Furtick]

Can reach out and bring the love back.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

God might give me a date night.

[Steven Furtick]

Idea while Pastor Steven is preaching.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

God might show Me the song to play that's going to make the silent treatment stop when I get home. I'm trying to say God can speak.

[Steven Furtick]

Something in a whisper that is greater than all of the human wisdom combined.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

So stop trying to figure everything out on your own. Because Jesus can do something so amazing.

[Steven Furtick]

And he doesn't even have to raise his voice. He can do it in a whisper. It's interesting because I almost had to have somebody else preach this message. This weekend around Friday, I woke up and I had no voice. I could only speak with a whisper.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

The Lord said, well, if a whisper.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Is what you have, then a whisper is what you'll give.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

I took some medicine and my voice.

[Steven Furtick]

Feels all right right now.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

I might not be able to speak.

[Steven Furtick]

Like I normally speak today.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

I feel like I'm doing pretty good so far, but I am trying to.

[Steven Furtick]

Use wisdom for this.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

But sometimes the Holy Spirit and the adrenaline kicks in and I forget all my wisdom and I just start screaming. But I told the Lord, well, maybe I shouldn't preach. And the Lord said, no, maybe you.

[Steven Furtick]

Should teach them about the whisper. Some of them are making decisions in their life right now, and it's so noisy with what everybody else thinks they should do. But I want to give them a whisper. You know, the Lord can give you a whisper and save you seven years of a bad relationship. The Lord can give you a whisper and show you a new way to see the situation that turns the regret into a lesson.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

I've had it happen before. I was feeling so bad about something, so down about something, and the Lord.

[Steven Furtick]

Just whispered a different way to see it. That little whisper he gave me completely reframed the situation.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

You know what's crazy?

[Steven Furtick]

The situation didn't change the way I saw it did. The whisper God gave me reframed the situation. I went from worry to worship.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Jesus is going to the festival. He's going to the festival, and he's.

[Steven Furtick]

Going to amaze the people with his teaching.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

But his brothers are pressuring him to.

[Steven Furtick]

Do something at this time that is not appropriate to his assignment.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

I want to say to you today.

[Steven Furtick]

That not everything God has given you to do needs to be run by a committee. Not everything God has given you to do will align with what everybody else is doing.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Not everything God has called you to be will align with what you see.

[Steven Furtick]

Reflected in the environment around you.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

They were amazed by his teaching because he didn't come from their synagogue. They were amazed by his teaching because he did not teach like they taught. He taught with authority.

[Steven Furtick]

When he spoke, storms listened.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Jesus voice was so powerful, he could sleep through a storm. And when he woke up, he could tell the storm, shh. He didn't even have to say a word, just shh.

[Steven Furtick]

And the storm would say, uh oh, Jesus is talking. The word just spoke.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Peter could holler every cuss word he wanted to holler. The storm didn't stop because Peter cussed. The storm stopped because Jesus said, shh.

[Steven Furtick]

If I could give this sermon a subtitle, it would be called Shut. Turn to your neighbor, don't breathe on them too much and say shh. When Jesus says, shh, the storm shuts down. When Jesus says, shh, the wind and the waves die down. When Jesus says, everybody else sits down and listens because he teaches with authority. And it's amazing. Somebody say, it's amazing. I look at some of your lives.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

And I think about the fact that.

[Steven Furtick]

You were in rehab this time last.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Year and you're still doing good and you're here today, and I think that's amazing. You didn't even see a path for this life. You didn't have this model for you. I know people sometimes come to church and they're so beat down by what they need to change, but can we take five seconds and at least be thankful that it makes no sense that we're even doing as good as we're doing when you consider where we came from.

[Steven Furtick]

Remember when they said Jesus was from Nazareth and they were surprised because they said, can anything good come from Nazareth? They were surprised that something so powerful came from somewhere so small.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

They were surprised that something so wise.

[Steven Furtick]

Came from somewhere so remote.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

They were surprised at something so wonderful and so amazing. I think we need to stay surprised and stay amazed. Because if you actually look at your life, it makes sense.

[Steven Furtick]

No sense that you should be married today.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

If you actually look at your life, it makes no sense you should be in a mental institution today. All of the weapons that were formed against you, it is a wonder you're paying your bills. It's a wonder you're living indoors. It's a wonder you're standing upright. It's a wonder you're sane. It's a wonder you're here. It's a wonder you're praising. Some of you had a health issue and you didn't even know if you'd be alive to see the end of 2025. But it's amazing. High five.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Three.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

People say it's amazing. It's amazing. It might not mean much to you, but it's amazing to Me, it might be little to you, but it's a big thing to me. I'm praising God for my smile. I'm praising God with the teeth that are still in my mouth. I'm praising God that I had food to digest. I'm praising God for it's amazing. The fact that it's amazing doesn't mean everything is going great. Jesus is going to a festival, but he's in the middle of a fight. It's a festival and a fight. In the same passage, I told him.

[Steven Furtick]

I was going to whisper, look what a hypocrite I am. Not only is he going to a festival where his brothers are trying to pressure him, but he is in a vulnerable moment himself.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Pop quiz.

[Steven Furtick]

What comes before John chapter seven in the Bible? Yeah, John chapter six.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

See how amazing that is?

[Steven Furtick]

Look at that Bible knowledge you stored up.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

You think John chapter six, this is a happy chapter.

[Steven Furtick]

Do not even make a 6, 7 joke right now. I don't even want to hear one. You will not slow down the momentum of my message with that silliness.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

He fed the 5,000 with a little bit of food. In John chapter 6, remember, Jesus has.

[Steven Furtick]

Been doing miracles and that's why they're persecuting him.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Jesus has been working and that's why.

[Steven Furtick]

They are forming the weapon against him. Write this down. No work, no weapon.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

If Jesus doesn't do anything, they don't do anything. If Jesus doesn't threaten the establishment, there.

[Steven Furtick]

Will be no reaction from the establishment.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

If Jesus is not moving, there will be no resistance to his movement. The devil does not attack you when you're doing nothing for God. The devil attacks you when you're advancing.

[Steven Furtick]

Jesus is doing amazing things. Not only turning water into wine, not only healing a royal official son, he actually healed Peter's mother in law. Many scholars believe that's why Peter denied him doing amazing things. But the big one, that's in all four of the gospels that everybody likes talk about. He turned a little boy's lunch into enough to feed a multitude. He did that. That's amazing. How could he do so much with so little? It's amazing. How could he know so much when he was exposed to so little religious tradition? It's amazing. That's how God gets glory out of your life. When he does so much with so little. When he takes a little bit of oil and fills every jar you bring him. When he takes a little stone and knocks down a big giant, when he takes a little staff and splits a big sea. When God takes the little bit you do know. The little bit of clarity that you do have, the little bit of strength you do have, the little bit of time that you do have, the little bit of wisdom you do have, the little bit of experience you do have. When he takes a fate the size of a mustard seed and moves a mountain with it, people say, that's amazing. When he takes a little boy's lunch and breaks it and blesses it and gives it to the people, they all go home with leftovers. The disciples are like, wow, that's amazing. The Bible says in John chapter six that the crowds followed him the next day, expecting him to do it again, and he didn't. The pressure of being amazing is that you have to sustain it. We all know what it feels like to feel like what we do is taken for granted. I don't want to call her out, but I think about Holly all the time. I think about how amazing it is. Just stuff she does naturally for our family. It's absolutely incredible. I'm trying to convince her to. To not cook for us for a month just to make us appreciate how amazing her food is. I'm like, just put us on a fast. Just put us on a 30 day fast. We are not grateful enough. You know how I know that? Because we invite other people over to.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Our house and they're like, ah, this is amazing. This is incredible.

[Steven Furtick]

And we're all sitting there like, yeah, yeah, I guess it is. It is amazing. I don't want anybody to out compliment my wife. It's amazing. I'll tell you, it's amazing. Sometimes it takes someone else to come in and taste it to realize how amazing it is. Especially when the kids bring over somebody and their mom doesn't cook.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

My mom hasn't cooked for us in six months. I'm like, maybe you should try that.

[Steven Furtick]

I was thinking that the other day. I was like, maybe I should just be a bad dad for a year.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

You know what I mean? Just lower the bar for a little while.

[Steven Furtick]

Then they'd be like, dad, that was amazing how you actually texted me back.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

I think about sometimes I should come preach and not study for like a month.

[Steven Furtick]

Just get up here and go.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

What do y' all want to talk about today? Do you want to talk about the Panthers? Do you want to talk about the teddy bears at Starbucks? What do you want to talk about today, y'?

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

All?

[Steven Furtick]

Anybody got anything?

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Maybe we can make that a sermon. I'm sure we could preach that. Somebody give me a Bible verse, revelation.

[Steven Furtick]

Ah, let's try something else.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

But See, it shouldn't have to go away to get me not to take it for granted. I should be mature enough to be able to say, thank you, Lord, for this meal. Thank you, Lord, for this breath. Thank you, Lord, for this day. But the crowds were never like that. See, Jesus could have, by the way, provided bread for them every day. He is the bread of life. He didn't refuse to repeat the miracle because he was incapable of performing. He refused to repeat the miracle because he didn't want them to get addicted.

[Steven Furtick]

To that particular miracle.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

So when they came and said, do the bread thing again, that was awesome. This time, could you make it even softer this time? Could you bring butter with it, too? This time I appreciate the pescatarian miracle, but this time, could we get a ribeye? Jesus, could you find somebody with a hamburger and touch that? Jesus said, no, I'm not doing it. Eat my flesh and drink my blood.

[Steven Furtick]

Or you have no part in me.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

You came because you had the miracles.

[Steven Furtick]

And you got your fill. But the work of God is to believe.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Look at one of the saddest verses in the Bible. This is one of the saddest verses in the Bible. After one of the happiest miracles, John.

[Steven Furtick]

Chapter six sixty six. Look at this. From this time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Jesus was amazing, but he was also abandoned. As amazing as he was, there were disciples who said, we don't want to follow you where you're going next. Now, this is the question I want to ask you. If Jesus had people leave his life and he was perfect, if Jesus had people leave his life, and he was all knowing, if Jesus had people leave his life and he was the savior of the world, how do we expect that we're going to make it through our life without ever being betrayed, abandoned, rejected? I know this really hurts to put it here, but I felt the Lord speaking to me that there is a whisper he wants to give you about the people who have abandoned you. Now, as I step on this, I tread tenderly. Because it's one thing to talk about the people who were in your life in high school who are not in your life now that you're 73. It is one thing to talk about abandonment in a theological capacity that will help you to understand how it relates to God, who will never leave us or forsake us. But there are some times where the fact that people are leaving you causes you to feel as if God did too. We don't say that, but we begin to feel that way. Think about Jesus bread, multiplying water to whining, healing. Jesus, who was trying to be killed by the leaders. So he has leaders who are trying to kill him. He's being consumed by the crowd because they only want what he has to give, not what he has to teach.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

He's trying to be killed by the.

[Steven Furtick]

Leaders, consumed by the crowd.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

But verse five really got me. It said even his own brothers did.

[Steven Furtick]

Not believe in him.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

So he has a crowd trying to kill him.

[Steven Furtick]

He has leaders who are trying to crucify him.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

He has disciples who don't really get him. The disciples never fully got Jesus.

[Steven Furtick]

I'll prove it to you.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Lazarus died.

[Steven Furtick]

Jesus said, he's sleeping. I'm going to wake him up. He was speaking in code.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

The disciples said back, well, Lord, if.

[Steven Furtick]

He sleeps, he'll get better.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

The Bible says.

[Steven Furtick]

Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Have you ever had to explain things to people more than you should at this point? That's John, chapter 11. By John, chapter 11. I should not have to tell you everything. But Jesus has a leadership team who is trying to kill him, a crowd that's consuming and taking from him, and disciples who don't get him. Even his own brothers don't believe in him. So I share it with you like this. When I was preparing for ministry, they prepared me to preach the Bible and how to take a text and how to get the history of it. They taught me how to even grow a ministry and how to have strategic initiatives. So you get out ahead of the plateaus and create new growth surges and you get out of this and you get out of that. I even had one professor who took us to a church and taught us how to baptize. He made us do it in the water. He made us get in the tank. He was like, this is important. This is somebody's life that's being represented. You don't need to be practicing on somebody, so practice on each other. When I did, I did the first one and I dropped the guy in the water. I never dropped anybody again in any baptism because I learned so much that if I'm baptizing you, you are coming up out of this one way or the other. If I have to knock the tank over, I am not dropping you in this water. They taught me how to baptize. They taught me how to contextualize. They taught me how to theologize. They taught me all of that. But one class I do not remember getting is this. They never told me what to do.

[Steven Furtick]

When the people who are supposed to believe in me, be leaving me. I used to think that if they left me, they were leaving the Lord. I don't think that anymore. I think God moves people along. I also learned that sometimes I allowed the fact that they left me. Let me say it like this. The Lord said, don't let them leaving you keep you from believing in me. It's significant to me that at this moment in Jesus life, when his brothers are like, hey, you need to go do something. You need to show how powerful you are. You need to go to Jerusalem at the festival, festival and make a show. Because you want to be this big public figure. You want to be a big deal. Isn't this something? They're trying to teach Jesus how to be a big deal. They're trying to teach the alpha and omega how to make a statement. They're trying to take the one who published the Sunrise how to run a PR campaign.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

They're trying to teach the one who.

[Steven Furtick]

Was in the beginning with God how to make a splash when he gets on the scene.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

They're trying to get the one who.

[Steven Furtick]

Chose to descend from a throne to a cross to die for our sake sin. How to be more like the people and how to be amongst the people and how to make a statement.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

They are trying to teach the word.

[Steven Furtick]

Of God how to make a statement. And they do it at his most vulnerable time. Remember this. The enemy will come to try to push you out of your position at the times where you feel lonely and vulnerable. He will use those moments when you feel abandoned to get you to feel bitter and to get you to start doing things that aren't even you. If possible, the enemy will use people who disappointed you to cause you to doubt the God who never will. Who am I preaching to? I refuse to just preach this like it was just for me and Jonathan Josephs. Who am I preaching to? The other day, we were out on Elevation Nights tour, and the Lord really gave me this beautiful picture that I wanted to share with you. I was watching one of our sermons from back when the church was pretty empty during the pandemic. I was looking at how back in those days, I felt very abandoned by you. During that time, you're like, it's your fault.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

You wouldn't let us come to church.

[Steven Furtick]

I know, but it was still lonely. Yet in the middle of that preaching. Now listen, get this picture. In the middle of that preaching, I looked up there on that stage, and I was just going for it like if it was 2,000 people in the room, but up on the Stage, you had Chris and Jenna and John, Sal and L.J. and Scotty and all the team. We went out there. We were about to go minister. This is crazy. We were about to minister to 20,000 people or 15,000 people, or however many people were there that night. I realized that the same people who were about to go out there and minister with me in that big arena were the same people who had my back in an empty room. The Lord really checked me on this because he said, sometimes you get so sad about who left that you start missing who's left. I know they left you, but God didn't let go of you. I know they should have treated you better, but God has treated you better than you could have ever deserved. I know they didn't give you what you needed or what you could have rightfully expected from them, but you have to release that now in order to receive that in this season of your life. Your wisdom is coming from God. It's going to be amazing because even though many left Jesus, the ones who stayed ended up building the church we're a part of. I can't wait to see what God is going to do through what is left in your life. I can't wait to see when you.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Finally forgive the fact it's not like it used to be.

[Steven Furtick]

When you finally forgive the fact they were a jerk.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

When you finally admit the fact you were sometimes too. When you finally forgive the fact they did not stay for the whole journey. When you finally make peace with the fact that not everybody was meant to be in the whole movie. Some people were there for a scene. Some people were there for a lesson. Some people were there for a blessing. Some people needed to be released because God has something else for them. When you release that, when you let that go, when you let God be God and you just follow Jesus with what you have left, you will realize. The greatest truth that I ever realized is that wherever people leave a space, God does a miracle. Wherever people leave a vacuum, wherever people leave a need, God steps in to meet it. I can stand before you today, honestly, by the grace of God, and say that some of the greatest times I have felt his presence in my life is when people were absent. Some of the greatest times I have felt of the presence, his favor over my life and really experienced this deep thing with him was in the secret place. Do you know about the secret place? It's when people stop calling you and people stop texting you and people stop checking on you. You can either get bitter about it or you can get blessed about it and realize this is a season where God is drawing me closer to himself. When they go quiet, he speaks.

[Steven Furtick]

Sometimes he lets it get really quiet so he can whisper. Jesus says something powerful. What he says to his brothers. He says, you go, I'm good in Galilee.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Somebody shout, I'm good in Galilee. That's the greatest thing you can ever decide in your life. Is that where God has me right now is where I want to be. If he had wanted me to be somewhere else, I'd be somewhere else. If he'd wanted me to be someone else, I'd be somewhere else. I like my life. I like my life. I like all the banged up little things on my car. I like all the scratches on my car. I love all those little marks all around my house where we need to repaint it. I like my life. I like my crooked second toe. I like my life. I like my male pattern baldness. I like my life. I like my grays in my beard. I like my life. I like my free time. I like my life. I like my busy. I like my life. Say it. I like my life. Tell your neighbor I like my church. Tell them I like my pastor. I like my son. I like my wife.

[Steven Furtick]

I love her cooking.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

It's amazing. Can I talk to you for a moment about arrival? It's our third point is arrival. See, they're trying to get Jesus to go somewhere, but he already is what they're trying to be.

[Steven Furtick]

Look at verse four. Let me teach this. Say, I like my life. Maybe we'll make that the title of the sermon when we put it on YouTube. I like my life. Clickbait, everybody, you know, rage, bait them. You know, I don't like my life.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

It's easy for you to say.

[Steven Furtick]

If you had my life, you wouldn't like it either.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

You know how people want to try to make you be miserable like they are?

[Steven Furtick]

Say, I like my life now. Jesus had every reason not to like his life. Jesus had every reason to feel bitter, but he didn't. He is tempted in every way. Like how you get bitter, how you start thinking that's not fair, how they're doing that for me. Jesus had every reason to think that too, but he was tempted in all points as we are, and yet without sin. That's why he's our example. In verse four, what the brothers said to him. I have to show you this. So powerful, how it's worded. They said, no one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Jesus, you need that blue check mark. Anointing. But for real, though, the keyword to that. No one who wants to become public figureheads in secret. It's not secret. It's become. Jesus doesn't need. Can I say it with bad grammar? Jesus doesn't need to become nothing. He was and is and is to come. So when you know you've already got.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

What they're trying to get you to chase, the temptation isn't so great anymore. He's like, no, I'm good.

[Steven Furtick]

Y' all go, I'm good.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

Because Jesus knew what he was, so he knew what he didn't have to do. Jesus knew. John's gospel gives the seven I am statements of I am the bread of life. I am the true vine. I am the gate. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the door. I am.

[Steven Furtick]

I forgot the seventh one, but y'.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

All can look it up later. I am. Somebody shout, I am. I think one of the most powerful things Jesus said in John wasn't one of the seven I am statements. It's in verse eight, and I want to show it to you so you can say it too, when you know who you are. Jesus Christ said, you go to the festival. I am not going. Just encircle that phrase. Jesus said, I am the true vine. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the door. I am the way, the truth and the life. I have the seventh one, too. I am all that. But since I know who I am, I also know what I am. Sometimes the power of knowing your purpose is being able to say, I am not going. Watch this, teenagers. I am not going to that party. I know everybody else is going to be at that party, but I don't care about where everybody else is going because I am not going. Because I am a child of God. I don't care if everybody is talking nasty on Facebook. I am not going to talk like the world when I'm a citizen of the kingdom of God. I am not. I don't care if everybody else is having sex before they get married. I am not given something that was blood bought for something that is Gert teeth. I am not. I know the devil wants me to complain and lay down and die, but I am not going to. I am not going to quit. I am not going to give up on this. I am not going to bury my dream. I am not going to going to become a cynic. I am not going to drink the pain away. I am not going to numb it with another drug I am not going. We can have a whole E group off of this one point. Just tell somebody. I am not going. I'm good in Galilee. I'm not going to try to prove it. I'm not going to try to make you believe it. I'm not going to try. Try to make you accept me. I'm not compromising my values. I am not. Uh, oh, I feel political anointing. Not going to do it. You don't remember that you were in Canada, but tell somebody. I am not. I am not. I am not.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Whisper. Verdict.

[Anabe Sofas Advertiser]

Whisper, Whisper.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

He said, shh. I'm going to do something in secret. Shh. I'm going secretly. You know God is doing secret stuff in your life right now, don't you?

[Steven Furtick]

You know the Lord sees what you do in secret, don't you? You know the one who sees in secret rewards openly, don't you? You know, you might already be there, but you just don't have anybody to tell you how good you're really doing. So let me be that one today. You're already there. If you were supposed to be further along, God would have sent you a faster car. You're already there.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

I know you have a long way to go.

[Steven Furtick]

The Bible says, Jesus went, but he went when he was supposed to. He went when he was supposed to. When he got there, look at verse 12. It says there was widespread whispering about him and there always is. Some said, I like him.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

He's a good man.

[Steven Furtick]

Others said, mm, we've seen this show before. Mm, mm. He's a deceiver. But what's crazy to me is Jesus didn't respond to either because both were limited. He wasn't a good man. He was the God man. Jesus did not answer to their whispers because he walked in his Father's will.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Wow.

[Steven Furtick]

What I realize about everyone I'm preaching to today is there is a war happening in your heart. It's not loud. There's no bombs going off. Nobody can see it. And you look really beautiful in your church clothes, but underneath that purple sweater, underneath that beautiful smile, underneath those lifted hands that you raised sincerely because you love the Lord and you worship Him. There's a war going on and there's a whisper. A while back, Holly was giving me some affirmations. That's my final point. I want to talk about affirmations and agreement. You don't need to sit down. If you're standing up, it'll just make me think I need to talk longer. Something very strange happened to me. It took me a Few days to analyze it and then. It's taken me several months to process it so I could share it with you. It came back to my mind when the Lord told me to talk to you about the war of whispers. When I preach, by the way, there are the words I'm speaking and then there is the whisper that comes after that word that either moves you from the word you heard or tells you to obey it. If you obey it. If you obey the word, peace will be the product. But if the enemy whispers it, The Bible talks about how sometimes the devil will snatch a seed of the word of God that is sown because the enemy will whisper, cognizant of this fact that as I'm speaking, the enemy is whispering and so is God. It's a war of whispers. See, there are two whispers, right?

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

He's a good man. I don't think so. He's a liar. You have this, you might as well give up. It doesn't matter anyway. You really could confess that sin. They would forgive you.

[Steven Furtick]

Yeah, but then they'll think I'm weak.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

And they'll take advantage of me.

[Steven Furtick]

It's a war of whispers. You don't say that stuff out loud. It just goes on in the night. The reason I know it is because it happens to me too. When I finish preaching to you, I am in a vulnerable place.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Why?

[Steven Furtick]

Well, you run around a room screaming at the top of your lungs for an hour and see how you feel afterwards and talking to people about abandonment and deep issues and then just come off the stage and try to eat a pancake. The devil comes in behind it and he discourages. Holly was sharing with me one time in a particularly vulnerable state. Some affirmations. She was saying things to me that were so kind and so rooted in scripture. Very soft voice. You're man of God. You shared what the Lord gave you to share today. God is proud of you. Now, as she was speaking, I was having thoughts. I believe they were from the enemy. I believe they were from the enemy. But they didn't sound like the devil's voice. In fact, it was a thought that came as the exact opposite of everything she was saying to me. She would say, you're a man of God. While she was pausing to let that sink in, the enemy was answering it. Everything that would come back through my mind, it wasn't an out loud voice. It was just. It was the space between her words were filled by whispers from the enemy. If she said, you are a man of God, the thought would come back. That was the exact opposite of that. I won't tell you what those thoughts were because, honestly, they were so raw and so terrible. I would not repeat them to you. They're coming back to me. And she's saying, God delights in you. The answer that would come back as a thought or an impression or an argument with what she just said would be the exact rhythm of what she just said. It was almost like it was a songwriting session. It was like. And it matched it almost exactly, except it was the exact opposite. It was intense. I've never had anything like this happen before in my life. The next day, I was reflecting on it because I didn't even know how to tell her what happened because it was so dark to feel something like that. I was praying about that and asking God, what was that? What was that thing that was going on in my mind while my wife was speaking such beautiful words over me after I just preached your words to people? He said, it was the enemy's whispers. It's not important that you get it to go away. It's just important that you never agree with it. It's a war of whispers. One is saying, God has you right where he wants you. It's going to be okay. Hold on. The other is saying, you screwed up so bad, there's no way God can redeem this situation in your life. You might as well give up. One whisper is saying, you slipped up. Let's get back on track. Come on. We can get this back together again. You don't have to go all the way down just because you slipped a little bit. Another is saying, well, you've already blown it now, and you've already broken the street, and you might as well just go all the way. It's a war of whispers. But what was true of Jesus is true of you and me. In verse 16, Jesus says, you're amazed by my teaching, and you want to know where it came from. My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. Listen to the whisper of the one who sent you. God, who sent you into this assignment for your life. God, who sent you to be the leader of that family. God, who sent you into this city.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

God sent you here.

[Steven Furtick]

God sent you into this church. God sent you to be the teacher in that classroom. God sent you to be the manager of that division. The God who sent you can whisper to you. He can whisper to you a word that can pivot your whole life.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

It's a war of whispers.

[Steven Furtick]

Right now, they were whispering about Jesus.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

And they will always Be whispering. And the voices will always be speaking opposite things.

[Steven Furtick]

One voice will always be telling you.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

You'Re not going to make it. And another voice will be telling you, come on. God has seen you through this far, and it is not important which voice is the last loudest.

[Steven Furtick]

It's important which one you agree with.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

The one you lean into is the one that will lead you forward. I don't know who I'm prophesying to right now, but it's so strong on me right now because it's been back and forth in your mind, and you're like, what is this? You came to church today and the whisper has been there the whole time I've been preaching. You just turned this on and you're like, maybe God can speak to me. I don't know. It's chaotic in my mind right now. I can't make sense out of it. Right now God is saying, go with the whisper of the one who sent you, the one who knows you, the one who died to save you, the one who intricately knit you before you were formed in your mother's womb, the one whose words spoke your life into existence.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Listen to that whisper. The whisper you listen to is the one that wins.

[Steven Furtick]

When I get done in a minute, the enemy is going to whisper to me. You shouldn't have told them that story at the end. That was too personal. I said it for somebody who has been dealing with it in your own life. Maybe we just ought to call the sermon.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Shh.

[Steven Furtick]

God is whispering over my life. I cannot afford to get distracted by other people's opinion right now. I cannot even afford to be distracted by my own shame right now because the grace of God is whispering a better word. I want you to stand and I want you to be still in this moment. I want to be quiet so you can listen for the whisper. It won't be the only voice you'll hear because one voice is going to be telling you, there's your stomach growling.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Shh.

[Steven Furtick]

Stomach. We're going to eat. You're going to get filled in a few minutes. But right now I need my soul full. It's not important that you get that other whisper to go away. It's important that you don't agree with it. So, Lord, fill the space. Some people who are listening to me preach today, they've been left by others because they ate the loaves and had their fill and they left. Now they've been believing the whisper. You're all alone.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Shh. I'm not alone. God is with me.

[Steven Furtick]

Say it.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

God is with me.

[Steven Furtick]

That's the whisper you agree with.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

God is with me.

[Steven Furtick]

If I don't feel him, he's with me. If I don't see him, he's with me. If I can't prove it, he's with me. If it doesn't work out, if it doesn't get better, he's with me. He's with me. That's the whisper that I agree with. I want to speak to the whisper that has been telling you it's too late. Too late. Maybe your kids are grown now, or maybe you're about to graduate high school and you didn't really live for the Lord. It's not too late for anything. God can save the best till last. God can give you a fourth quarter, last two minute victory that will shock you. God can knock the devil out and make the last five rounds insignificant. You listen to this whisper.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

It's not over. Not for you. You're still breathing while it is still called today. You let go of what didn't happen. You let go of who didn't stay. God is with you. It's not over.

[Steven Furtick]

I want to come against the whisper that's telling you that you'll never change. Who you've always been is who you're going to be. I declare over you that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Not only are you where you're supposed to be, you. You are who you are supposed to be. You're not too much. You're not too little. You are just right for this assignment.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

I am enough.

[Steven Furtick]

This week, Lord, we're going to listen for your whisper. We're going to resist the whisper that's telling us that this is all ridiculous. We're going to resist the whisper that tells us we might as well stay down. We're going to resist the whisper that tells us our past is greater than our future. We're going to listen for your whisper today. Lord, I believe that as I'm preaching, you are drawing somebody to be saved. This is their day to give their life to Jesus. I believe that you stand at the door and knock. Like Revelation 3:20 says, if anyone will open the door, you will come in and you will sit down and you will make your throne in their heart right now. If you're here today and you've never really given your life to Jesus, or maybe you used to be close with the Lord and lately you've been very far away and you hear that whisper, the Lord is saying, come back to me. The Lord is saying, give me your life. Give me the broken pieces. Give me all the broken dreams. I see all of it.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

I'll make you new.

[Steven Furtick]

I'll turn all this clay and this broken vessel and I'll turn it into something amazing.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

It's going to be amazing in his hands today.

[Steven Furtick]

If that's you and you're ready to give your life to Christ, I would love to lead you in a prayer. This prayer is not magical, but if you'll pray it from your heart. The Bible says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. It's a promise. Right now, as a church family, I want you to repeat after me. For the benefit of those who are coming to Jesus for the first time or coming back to God, repeat after me. Heavenly Father, today is my day of salvation. I am a sinner in need of a savior and I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the Savior of the world. Today I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died, that I was, would be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. This is my new beginning. I am a child of God. On the count of three, if you prayed that, shoot your hand up. One, two, three. I want to celebrate you.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

God bless you, man. God bless you, ma'.

[Congregation Member or Responsive Listener]

Am.

[Assistant or Co-speaker with Steven Furtick]

God bless you, sir. God bless you in the back. The black shirt. God bless you. Come on, let's thank God for him.

[Steven Furtick]

Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.orgpodcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us LevationChurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.

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[Steven Furtick]

This is an iHEART podcast.