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2 Focuses: Speak More & Lay Hold Pt. 2 | Pastor Craig Field | Sun. Jan. 26, 2025
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2 Focuses: Speak More & Lay Hold Pt. 2 | Pastor C…
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Praise the Lord. Today we're talking about the second part of our focus. He had two focuses on me last year. A lot. There was a lot that I was dealing with. But he kept bringing two things back to me constantly, and that is speak more and lay hold. Speak more and lay hold. Listen, my brother and sister, Holy Ghost, help me now and help the people in Jesus name. We thank you for your word. Listen, these are two critically important flows and they're completely different to each other. The flow of speaking more has got nothing to do with the flow of laying hold. Now you can lay hold to a measure when you speak. I'm not saying that you can't. But that's not what laying hold is all about. Speaking is speaking. Laying hold you do through prayer. Do you understand? Speaking is a confession. So remember that last week or two weeks ago, I guess, but two weeks ago I was sharing with you about some scriptures and the importance of the spirit of faith means that we speak more and how God has been dealing with me. Confess more. Speak more. Even what I been saying to you this morning about confess that you're a soul winner, that's speaking more. What you say matters. What you say over your kids, matters. What you say over your marriage matters. What you say over your mind, I can never remember. I can't remember. It matters what you say. Speaking more is not just a little statement. It's a discerned revelation that God has been dealing with me for a long time about. And I'm still getting there. Nobody has arrived, but I'm working on it and I'm teaching you to work on it. It's very important. But laying hold is a whole nother baby. Laying hold is not something I can share in 45 minutes adequately. It's something that I may talk about it again later in the year because I'm not planning on doing another part to the series. But we'll see. Laying hold is a complex, profound, and yet revolutionary revelation. If you can get even a tenth of this revelation, it can change. It can. And I'm not just saying this. I'm not just saying this to be dramatic. It really can change things in your life. But laying hold goes with speaking more. You can't just pray but never speak. You've got to learn to speak. But you can't just speak. You've got to learn to pray. Because speaking this is. Now, listen to me. A lot of people in the faith circles, they're professional confessors. They're professional speakers. And even then God is saying speak more. But they're not good prayers. They love to confess because confession is easy. Thank God that I'm healed. You're driving down the road. Thank God that I'm a soul winner. Thank God that I'm bold. Father, I thank God for the 500, Father, I thank God for that, for that increase that I'm believing for in my job this year. And you're saying, and you're saying, and you're saying, and that is so important because obviously that's one of the focuses. But, but the people usually that are real good at that, they're not real good at the laying hold side because they'd like to confess, but they don't want to pray. Praying, laying hold is much more. It takes much more time and it takes much more energy. And let me be honest with you, it takes much more skill. A monkey can confess, A parrot can confess. Now, it's not going to work because their heart's not connected to their beak. But confession by, in and of itself is not hard. You just have to get into the habit of doing it and release your faith in your heart when you say it. Not just a parroting, but actually mean what you're saying and believe what you're saying. But that's actually very simple. But to lay hold is not that simple. I'm not trying to make you like, oh, forget it. I mean, it's that hard. I'm just going to tune out and I'll do my to do list and we're going to have chicken this afternoon and. And then we'll wait for the next sermon because if it's not that hard, I'm not going to be able to do it anyway. I can barely make it to church. I don't even remember where John 3:16 says. I don't even know what that says anymore. I haven't read my Bible in six months. I mean, I'm just saying some people, you know, they're not that spiritual. And if I make it sound like it's too hard, they'll just shut down and they won't even listen. So it's not that it's that hard, but it is more complicated than just speaking because you've got to understand what the concept is. And I don't have enough time to really, really get into the nitty gritty of it. But I'm going to just give you an overview today if that's okay, because I want you to really catch this. So let me tell you this little story which I like to share because it illustrates it and Stories are wonderful because they're illustrators. Jesus was a storyteller. He told parables, okay? Parables can be real people, and they can also be symbolic people. But he told parables. Well, I'm telling you a real story, a real parable, okay? And Brother Noel, Pastor Noel, who is with Pastor Nancy and is basically her main prayer person. Dr. Dufresne was traveling, and this is a number of years before Dr. Dufresne died. And, you know, he was in the Navy from the Philippines. Come on over here. You know, he's not in the Navy anymore, so he's looking for a work. He can't really find any work. And in San Diego, it's very expensive to live there. His wife's working for a bank, Pastor Ruby. And they've got three daughters, and they're young daughters. And so, you know, normal, typical family. So he wants to be a provider for his family. You can understand that, right? And so he's doing the best that he can, you know. You know, kind of, you know, on and off with the Navy and different things. But all of a sudden, they get hooked up with Dr. Dufresne. Long story short, they go to the Bible school. And the Lord starts to speak to Pastor Noel and say, I want you to travel with Dr. Dufresne. And he says, well, then the Dr. Dufresne confirmed, I want you to travel with me. Well, Dr. Dufresne is not the kind of person, and no minister really is. If God says that you're supposed to travel with me, my first thought is not, can you afford it? My first thought is, God told you to travel with me, so travel with me. And a good young man does not tell the man of God, well, I'm supposed to travel with you, but you have to pay for it. That's not what a spiritual person does. They don't make their problem my problem. Do you understand? Because they've got to learn how to walk in faith. And so doctor said, travel with me. God had told him, travel with him. And so he never said to him, I don't have any money. Now, when you travel with Dr. Dufresne, you know, you've got to fly in planes. He might be in business class, and you might be on the last row beside the toilet, but there's still a cost to the economy ticket. And then there's a hotel, and you might be sharing with the pilot, Mitch, because that's what he did a lot of the time. Mitch and him would get two queen beds, and they'd sleep in the same room because Mitch's was. Was covered by the ministry because he's the pilot. But then, of course, poor Mitch always gets saddled piggyback with Noel. He probably wanted his own room. And Noel says, no, I have to be here, but I can't afford the hotel, so I'm just going to sleep on the floor sometimes or on the other bed so that way he could save that money. And then, of course, there's no rental car because the church drives you around. And there's no real food because the church pays for the food when you're traveling, or a good church does at least. And so there's not a whole lot of expenses. Maybe you want a Sprite one day, you need a dollar for that. Now it's $7. Okay, you want a bag of lollipops or chips or an ice cream. If you're really going to indulge, you might need $5. Okay? But if you don't have $5, then you're sleeping with Mitch on the other bed and you're fasting. Do you understand? That was Pastor Noel's life. The problem is that even though he didn't have to pay for the hotel, some of the time, some of the time he did, but most of the times he didn't. He didn't have to pay for food or car, but he did have to pay for playing. And those playing add up. When you don't got any money, it adds up. So he said to the Lord, lord, I'm giving you a simple story because it illustrates a deep truth. He said, father, you've told me to go, but I don't have any money and I need to obey you. And I know I shouldn't ask him. So I'm going to get a job. Give me a job. Now that's a good attitude. I'm not lazy. I'm going to get a job. And the money from that job I'm going to put toward traveling with him. And the Lord said, don't get a job. Now listen. Don't. Now don't claim that, because I can hear people saying amen. That's my answer. I got an answer from the. From the preacher today. Don't work, watch TV and eat Cheetos. That's my answer from the Lord. No, not necessarily. But for him, for him, because he was a fivefold call. God did not want him distracted with work. But what was God really doing? Trying to build his faith, trying to get him to learn how to. How to get things in prayer. By faith. So it wasn't just that he was in office, he was stood in an office. Although he didn't really. Pastor Noel at that point wasn't operating in the full time ministry, but he had that calling. But it was more than just, I don't want you distracted, it's I want you to learn how to believe me. Do you understand now? But most people, they need to get jobs. And he was willing to get job, a job. And the Lord told him in a very rare case, don't do that. So he said, well, Lord, how am I going to do this if you don't let me get a job? How am I going to do this? We don't have any extra money. We're barely making it with Ruby's salary to feed these girls. And girls eat a lot. That's all I've got to tell you about it. Girls eat a lot. I think boys eat more, but girls eat a lot. Growing girls, my God, and the makeup and oh my Lord, you need a second job. And he said, lord, what am I going to do here? And the Lord said to him, and I just think this is such a, this is such a precious thing to me because this is so, it's so simple, it's not complicated, but it is so profound at the same time. The Lord said to him, I'm going to. The Lord told him, he said, I'm going to give you doors, open doors for you to preach because you're a minister, even though you're not really in it, but you're kind of preparing for it. Part of traveling with dad is preparing for it. I'm going to give you doors to preach and the offerings that they take for you, you're going to use as the money to travel with dad. So he said, okay, Lord, how are you going to do that? God didn't answer him. God doesn't always answer you. So he's just, he's a bit nervous because he knows God's going to open doors, but he doesn't know how to do that. So what do you do? Do you get a business card? Do you call people? What do you do? But so anyway, he's driving there, doctor's in the passenger seat, the driver's in the driver's seat, and he's in the back with the pastor of the church. And they're going to the service from the airport or from the hotel, whatever it was. And so he is sitting there in the back quietly because you don't talk much when you're around somebody like Dr. Dufresne, just keep your mouth shut. Because he's preparing. And so he's saying to the Lord, lord, I know you told me you're going to give me opportunities to preach, but this is the last trip that I can do. I've run out of all my savings. If you don't do something quick, I can't travel with him the next time he goes in a couple weeks. So you got to do something for me here. But I don't. You didn't tell me how you were going to do this. So how are you going to open doors? And he's thinking this and praying this as he's in the back of the car. This is the last trip that he used up all the savings. As he's thinking it, the pastor turns to him and says, God just spoke to me to bring you into my church to have you preach. Would you be open to doing that? Well, I think the answer is probably yes. And he says, yes, sir. Yes, sir. If that's what you'd like, I'd be happy to do that. So he says, okay, when the meetings are over, we'll talk. So the pastor brought him in. They preached, they gave him a good offering, and he took that offering. And then he went to buy the next plane ticket so he could travel with Dr. But he didn't tell anybody that's what he was doing. So now he thinks, this is amazing. I mean, I've hit the jackpot. All I have to do is say, yes, God does everything else. This is the way I like it to be. So now he waits for the next time with Dr. And he's in the car with the pastor, and he's just waiting. He's going to turn to me any second. He's going to turn. And the pastor didn't turn to him. So they finished that trip. And he goes, well, that's okay. It'll happen the next time. Because God said he'd do this. And so you see how sometimes your faith can. Sometimes you think you're in faith, but you're actually not because you don't have enough knowledge. Not that you're not in faith. You just don't know enough. Do you understand? So he was in faith, but his faith couldn't produce because he didn't have enough knowledge about how to get it done. Are you with me? So the next trip, second trip, the pastor doesn't turn to him now. He's starting to run out of money from the offering. So he says, lord, I can't do any More trips until you have the pastor tell me that he's going to invite me. And I'm just reminding you that this is running out and that I'm not going to be able to travel anymore. And you said you'd do it, but you ain't doing it. So instead of complaining, he just said, lord, what do I do? I'm believing, I'm releasing my faith. I'm confessing, speaking more. I'm doing it, but what do I need to do? Is there something I'm missing? Because he truly believed it was only speaking. And most of you believe the same thing. And that's why you don't have things, because it is not limited to speaking only. So the Lord said this wonderful statement to him, and I just. I love it. The Lord said to him, so let me find it here. The Lord said to him, lay hold of those preaching opportunities in the Spirit by praying it out in tongues. That was the answer. Simple. After all of that, the Lord said, lay hold of those. Now listen to the specificity of that. Now, preaching opportunities are. They are of the natural realm. Do you understand? They are something of substance that you can grasp, that you can see with your eyes, that you can hear with your ears. It's not just a spiritual thing like healing, although you can lay hold of healing, too, but the physicality of it. God said, lay hold of those preaching opportunities in the Spirit. See, most people never even heard of this before by, how do you do it? By praying it out in tongues. So tongues. When you're praying in tongues, First Corinthians 14:2, you're praying out the mysteries. You're laying track. You're reaching out and grabbing things and dealing with things and organizing things and completing things in that realm. But a lot of people want to talk, but they don't want to pray. And you can't just talk, but you also can't just pray. You've got to pray, but you've got to talk. But if you don't, if you don't, if all you do is talk and you don't pray, listen, you're doing 50%, and that's what most faith people are guilty of. They're doing a lot of confessing, but they're not doing any laying hold. You can't lay hold with English. You can't lay hold with confession. You lay hold in the Spirit. You lay hold by praying that thing out in tongues. I'm giving you some stuff, but I'm telling you, I can almost promise you, I can almost guarantee you not One church in this city is preaching about this or even understands this, because every church I go to around the world, when I talk about this, the pastors go, you know, we don't really understand that, but we're so grateful that you taught it, because now we got handles. We can actually grab something. Even in faith circles, and there's very few faith circles in this city. But Even in those, 99% don't understand this. This is discerned revelation. I'm giving you something that is nuclear power this morning, and I'm only giving you the very baseline because it's complex and there's a lot of other things I could say which I don't have time for, but I'm simply trying to get something very simple over to you that's very profound. When you are believing God for something, I need you to remember that you have, for lack of a better way. I don't know how. There's probably a better way. I could explain this, but I don't know how. So I'm just going to say it the way I can say it. You have two arms. Most people have one tied behind their back and they're trying to do everything with one hand. But sometimes it requires both hands. And that's why things don't work, and that's why things take so long, and that's why things fail. The one hand is your words, your confession. We now having the same spirit of faith. We speak because we believe. There is a saying, there is a confessing, a commanding. It's an authority. Father, I speak to you. Mark 11:24. And I believe. I receive this. And Devil, I speak to you. Mountain, I speak to you. Obstacle, I speak to you. Mark 11:23. Get out of my way. This is dominion. This is authority. This is faith. This is. This is confession. This is calling. Those things that be not as though they are so powerful, but it is one arm. People think it's both arms, and it's not. You need another measure of power working with you. You need something else happening with your confession. And if you don't have it, the confession many times will still produce, but it will take a heck of a lot longer for you to get the answer. And when you're under any kind of a time pressure, you won't always get it in time with just a confession. Are you listening to me? And sometimes there's things, Sonia, connected to you getting that answer that is time sensitive. You don't even realize that it's time sensitive because you don't even know what's connected to it. But by you getting that answer, something else is going to happen. Now there's something else might not happen if too much time passes. So sometimes you don't even realize you're under a time pressure, but you actually are because everything is connected and it's a domino effect. And if you miss, if this takes too long, that other thing God's trying to get to you is not going to happen. It's going to pass you by. Which is why if you only do confession, it's going to take longer. And you're kind of at 50% power. Now you add in lay hold. Now for him it was preaching, officers, but for you it's whatever it is, lay hold of X in the Spirit by praying it out in tongues. I'm so grateful God didn't just say lay hold of X for him. Preaching opportunities in the spirit. Because if you don't tell me how to do it, what does that mean? How do I lay hold in the Spirit? I don't know what that means, but God showed him. It's by praying it out in the Spirit. You lay hold in the Spirit by praying it out in the Spirit. And you've got to be in the Spirit in order to get those things. Which means you can't just have a little five minute prayer time, thinking about something else, being distracted, praying in tongues and think you're laying hold. That's not laying hold. You've got to get in the spirit. You've got to learn how to step past the log, through the veil. Where you're not in this, you're still aware, you can still hear, you're not in a trance, Your faculties are not suspended, but you can tell when you're in the spirit because the anointing comes stronger on you. Your mind stops wandering. You, you're crystallized. Everything is like. It feels like this and then it goes. I don't know how to explain that. And you're praying. Some people, takes them an hour to get there. If you're skillful at it and take you just a couple minutes. Took dad hagin seconds, but he was very skillful at it. He did it all the time. If you never do it all the time, it's going to take you longer. But you need to pray until you get in the spirit. That's the first thing. Now when you're in that kind of zone, for lack of a better way of saying it, it's like walking on the sand. You're praying in tongues, you're walking on the Sand. There's a big difference between walking on the sand and having your feet touch the water. It's a totally different sensation. You can pray in tongues, but when you step into the realm of the Spirit, your feet touch the water. And that water can go real deep or it can stay real shallow. It depends how long you pray and how skillful you are in praying to determine how far you go in the Spirit. Most people stay at the water's edge, but at least they're touching it. I'm happy that at least they're touching it. I'm trying to get further in. I'm trying to get. Remember what the prophet said in the Old Testament. I'm trying to get from ankle to knee, from knee to loin, or waist, from waist to chest, and then waters to swim in. There is much in the realm of the Spirit. We have no idea. We are ignorant of it. But we're very good at knowing how to confess. But we don't know that realm. And you need more than confession. If we're going to speed things up and get what we really need from God, we need more than that. So I want you to see the practicality of something spiritual. That's what I love about this. This is very spiritual. And it's in that realm which is spiritual. But there is a practical way to do it that anybody can understand if they just listen, lay hold of those preaching opportunities and in the Spirit. Which means you can actually do that by praying it out in tongues. So what did he do? And then there was a second phrase. The Lord said. The Lord said, now lift up those pastors. Are you listening? Listen to how God said it. Lift up those pastors as you pray in the spirit and lay hold that they would know to invite you. Because now I'm laying hold of it. But God has to deal with physical situations that may be carnal in order to get that over to me. So I love the fact that God told him what to do, but then he would get very specific, even not just about praying in tongues, but even about praying for the pastors. Now listen to me. Let's say you run a business and you need. Let's say you sell homes or something and you need. You need a client. Let's just say that, for example. And you're confessing, you're speaking more, and that's producing power. That is very, very important. Don't ever underestimate that. But don't only do that because God wants you to have enough clients. Are you listening to me? Because I'm speaking to you and you got to listen. God wants you to have. Don't be robbed by religious thinking right now. Well, I don't know if that's the Lord or not, because God, only God knows my past. I made a lot of mistakes and I never thought that I would even have this business. I don't know if I could have a productive business. You see, you're robbing yourself by wrong thinking. Just listen to your pastor. Listen to me. God wants every business owner to have so many customers and clients that they have to hire new staff so that they oversee instead of doing the work themselves. Because God is a growth God. God is an increasing God. God does these things. He's never stagnant. He never does the low part. You may start low and don't despise the day of small beginnings, but he don't end low. He wants you. The path of the righteous grows brighter and brighter and brighter. So God wants to get you, even if it takes years. He wants to get you to the point where, if you are a business owner, that you are so productive, successful, and there are so many people that want what you've got, that, that you actually can't do the work yourself anymore, that you have to hire people to do the grunt work. And you sit back at your desk with a cup of coffee and you just boss everybody around and you organize and you administrate and you delegate and you run the thing with the genius God's given you and the faith God's given you and the wisdom that God's given you, you just desert. You'd run it. You're not out there, but you start getting out there and you're not too good for that. You got to start somewhere and you got to be faithful in somebody else's before he'll give you your. And then you've got to be faithful in little so that he can make you really over much. But God wants every person to grow. Now, if you're not in a business ownership perspective, but you're in a company, God expects you to be promoted in that company to places of power. And if you don't want that, then you don't think like God. But I don't want the responsibility because you're lazy. Life is more than just. It's a wrong thinking. Well, I want to leave my business at work and I just want to come home and be free. Well, there's nothing wrong with coming home and being free. But what if God wants you to run a team? And what if you're still going to come home and be free. You're not going to be working 24 hours a day. But what if you had to stay an extra hour or. Or what if you left on time, but then it's an hour in the evening? You had to manage some of those things of your team, but you're going to get an extra $40,000 a year to do it. Well, some people wouldn't take it because I just want to be able to go to the gym and I just want to be able to cook, and I just want to be able to do what I want to do. And you're a fool, because God is trying to increase your path. He's trying to get you brighter and sometimes many times, that requires more responsibility. More responsibility requires more work. More work requires more time. Now, not time that hurts your time with God. Not time that hurts the local church, not time that hurts your marriage. Because some people take this too far, and now they're working so much, there's no time with their husband and wife, there's no time with the kids, and they don't come to church because of their work. That is an imbalance that displeases the Lord because you've got to put him first. Him first. That means the church first, then you put your family next. You got to have a balance. But I'm saying, some people don't take what I'm saying to an extreme. Some people, they don't want any more responsibility on their shoulders, and they will pass up promotions and growths that God is giving them because they don't want to be responsible. And you will stay the same. And whatever you are, poor, broke or middle, you'll stay there for the rest of your life. And God will stand, but you'll stand before Jesus and give an account one day and he'll say, I tried to get you into more. I wanted you to have more. I wanted your house paid off. I wanted you to support the mission vid. I wanted you to build that hospital over there. I wanted you to buy that satellite, that transmitter, that Lesotho. I wanted you to do these things, but you just. You won't. You just want your little 9 to 5 job with your little tiny responsibility, and you won't grow. Whoever that's for, you better pay attention. And some of you retirement people, you're lazy. You did your homework all your life and now you've got your feet set up and you're going to wither up and you're going to die. Put your hand to Something. Volunteer. If you have to open a business, do something, be productive. Retirement. God doesn't retire. It's not a biblical concept. There's nowhere in the Bible that talks about retirement in the way that we do it today. God expects you to work until you die, but your work should be full of joy. Your work should give you purpose. Your work should make you happy. And they've proven when people retire, they usually are dead within five years because they've lost their zest for life. They've lost purpose. Slow down, leave the company and retire. But don't sit around doing nothing. Come and help us. We need help here. Go out on the streets and say, lord, I'll take a couple hours a week and I'll just go and hand out tracts and just believe you. Lead me to somebody. Are you listening to me? Get me off my soapbox. A lot of people, retirement people, they don't think right. They think small. This is a time to re fire, not retire. This is a time to do more for God than you've ever done before because you've got more time. Time is precious. It's a time to pray like you've never prayed. Where are all the retirement folk? Why aren't they in here praying during the week? What are you doing? Well, I'm at Starbucks and I'm just reading my journal and I'm just watching my soaps. Now. Don't all look at the retirement people. Oh, my God. Don't all look at their retirement people, please. Because I'm sure that most of them are doing it great. I'm saying, in general, there's a wrong thinking. Listen to me. Stop that. Whoever's laughing, stop that. My God. We don't want to hurt anybody. I don't want the retirement people to now have to cover their heads like this as they're leaving and saying, leave me alone. Listen, listen. Willie is retired. Willie looks like she's 60, but she's in her 80s. And I came in on Friday to do something and there was Willie at the front desk helping our accounting department with receipts and answering phones. I appreciate that. And others who are retired do the same. And others who don't work because maybe they don't need to work. Maybe their family is taken care of enough. Many of them come in and volunteer. See, I'm saying this is the right way to think. It's not just me and mine and my little island. It's, how can I be a blessing? But listen to me. Let me get back to it before I close it's 12:03. I got to wind it down. There is a tangibility to the spirituality. He said, you want these open doors. That could be new clients, it could be preaching opportunities. What is it for you? It could be a new job. It could be a promotion within your job. Are you listening to me? It's anything. I'm talking about in the financial, because you can apply this to healing. It doesn't operate the same, but it's similar. I can lay hold of things in the spirit that are not just financial. I can lay hold of favor. I can also lay hold of the power of God. Dad Hagin, you were talking to me about this recently, dad Hagin, about the power gifts. He was teaching them. He would know them, but they weren't operating enough in his life. So he took the good part of a year to see God pray and fast and pray much in the Holy Ghost, specifically laying hold of the power gifts for them to operate in his ministry. And when he started doing that, they started popping like popcorn. It's not enough just to say, I thank God that I have the power gifts. He had to lay hold in the spirit. So what I'm saying is you can lay hold of things that are even spiritual in the spirit. You can lay hold of healing in the spirit. But I'm mainly focusing on financial areas right now. Whatever it's going, whatever the thing is that's going to produce you wealth, you can lay hold of that physical thing in the spiritual realm by praying it out in tongues. That's an amazing concept. Like, you don't understand. Like, that should make you want to dance. Because so many people are. They're willing to do it. They just don't know how. Most people are not lazy. They just are ignorant. They don't know how to do it. But when they hear somebody say confess, they'll confess. And if they hear somebody say, don't just confess. Grab it in the spirit. Lay hold of it in the spirit. They won't argue with you. They'll just say, thank you for telling me. I. How I know I'm supposed to hit this ball over on yonder, but I don't know how so. Because I took golf lessons. Waste of time. But anyway, I took golf lessons for my dad. Oh, Jesus. He was a golf president and he was so embarrassed that I couldn't blaze. He said, you're taking lessons whether you like it or not. And so he went and got me all the money. Spent hundreds of dollars outfitting me. I mean, I had everything. I mean, I had the Hat I had everything, the special glove. I just expensive clubs. And so the first thing, you gotta learn to hold that club, right? And you don't just grab it, you gotta interlace your finger. It's very particular. And then the guy's like, Mr. Field, your son's not that smart. He's a little slow. He said, don't worry, just keep working with him. I'll go to the clubhouse, have a beer and come back. But finally I got the grip and then it's the swing. And then it's learning how to move your body. And you're supposed to do it without the club. And then it's learning how to do it and it's very hard. So I like soccer. Oh, I'm a great soccer player. A monkey can play soccer. It's not just kick the ball. This is golf. This is very technical. I'm serious, Greg, I know you're a good soccer player, but I have two monkeys that could beat you. This is not, this is technical. It's like Cole saying, well, Dad, I just punched a guy. No, it's very technical in boxing. So I'm learning, I'm learning. And I'd hit the thing and I'd miss it. And then I'd hit it again and it would go woo on that way. It's supposed to go that way. And I'd hit the car window. And the guy said, don't worry, Craig. Your dad just said, just keep going. I don't know how long we're going to be here, but anyway, just keep going. And I'd do it again. And one time, just one time, I hit that thing perfect. And there's a certain sound when you hit it perfect. And my God, it sounds like the glory of God. And that thing went high, far, straight and fast. And the coach said, my. You got it. But it took me 150 more times to repeat that. It's not just that he said hit the ball. He had to show me how to hit the ball. And even when he showed me, I couldn't get it at first until a lot of time passed. You're going to be good at golf. You got to do it all the time. I didn't have time because I'm traveling. So I sold my clubs. I quit. I was going to go on the PGA Tour. They told me, I think they were drunk, but I sold those clubs because I don't have time. You got to really commit yourself to it if you're going to be good at it. I don't have enough Time. Praise God, if you have enough time. I don't have enough time. My point is things that are complex, things that are technical, you can't just get it by. Just do this now. I'm saying to you, do this. But really it takes you time with the coach. Who is the coach? It's not me. I'm teaching you, I'm feeding you. But the coach, the counselor, the helper, the guide, he's the guidebook, the living guidebook. He's the living tutorial. He will come with you and say, oh, okay, you heard what he said. Now you know you can do this, but you keep missing the ball. Okay, Greg, listen. Listen, Greg, you've missed it 17 times now, Greg, just listen to me. I have to use you as an example. I was going to say Lorraine, but I figured it would be better that I say to you because Lorraine actually does know a little bit about this, so. No, no, but you do too, Greg, you do too. But the Holy Spirit, as your coach will say, now, as you're praying now do this now different, quiet your mind, okay? No, no, don't think that way. Okay, now you're praying this out in tongues, but let me teach you how to lay hold. And as you're doing it, and I said anointing is working with you. You'll hear him teach you. That's how I learned. He taught me. I got the basics from preachers, but the Holy Spirit taught me the technicals. I can't teach you the technicals because I'm not in you and I'm not with you when you pray, but the coach is with you when you pray. And he will say, now what you're doing right now is you're reaching out and you're grabbing that thing and that tongues and it starts to increase. And that anointing. Now reach. Now take it, take it. And then now you're releasing your faith simultaneously while you're laying hold. And then you start to grab that thing and he'll teach you. Now you got that? You feel that feeling now, son? You got it? You feel that? You got it right now. You got it. Now start pulling it towards you. Don't let it go. Don't stop praying. Now to go and get a shower. You're in this now. Keep going for a few more minutes and keep praying. Pull that in now and he'll teach you. He'll talk to you. You'll know it on the inside. And all of a sudden you'll finish that prayer time. And you didn't just have Instruction from the pastor. You had the mighty guide, the Holy Ghost on the inside of you that gave you private tutoring on how to lay hold. And he really will, if you will, give him the chance, lay hold of those preaching gifts. That gives me hope. It means no matter what it is, if it's a promotion, I can lay hold of it for 500 people. I need to lay hold of it. The 40,000, I can lay hold of it. The new building, that might take some time because it's big, but I can lay hold of it. Do you understand? It doesn't matter what it is. In the realm of the Spirit. It's there. God needs my confession of faith and my dominion, but he also needs my hand, the other hand in the Spirit, reaching out to that realm and laying hold and pulling it toward me. Another way to say it is you're holding it in the Spirit and you're bringing it in. Another way to say it is you're taking a position in prayer, like Randy Greer says, and you're birthing that thing. Different people say it in different phrases. Some people say, well, I'm birthing it. What they're saying is, I'm laying hold. Some people say, I'm taking a position in prayer and I'm bringing it to pass. It's the same thing as laying hold. There's different ways you can articulate it, but the same principle is the same for everything. There are things that you need in the spirit, and you're trying to get it in the natural. Now, you start with speaking, but then you get in the spirit. Let the help of the Holy Spirit help and guide you. And you reach out and you start to take those things that you have a right to, because he's told you you have a right to them. And you are starting to take them, and you're starting to take ownership. You're starting to make them, birthing them, bringing them into a reality in that realm so that they will show up. They're like pop. It's like a seed under the soil. You don't even know it's growing. But all of a sudden, bing, that little thing, that little green shoot comes through the surface and you go, oh. But there was always a plant there, and it had germinated long ago. And it's been growing for a while. You just can't see it. See, in the realm of the spirit, you're doing things. Things are germinating, things are happening. But once that has happened, then all of a sudden, bing, it pops through the soil and. And in the natural, you say, oh, there it is. There's the first extra client. There it is. And the next week, oh, there's another one. There's another. There's another part of the shoot. There it is. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And then that healing that you've been laying hold for, all of a sudden. I mean, you've just been feeling that thing for a long time. And all of a sudden, one day you wake up and it's. It's gone. What did it do? Bing. It popped through the soil. The manifestation for your natural eyes and feelings. Now it's, oh, it's manifested. But you've got to lay hold in the spirit. Not just confess, but you've got to confess, too. Hallelujah. So what did he do? I'll end it with this. He started to say, father, I lay hold in the spirit, those preaching opportunities. And so he would do that, and then he'd also specify and say, now, Father, those pastors. And he'd name them, Father, that pastor. You don't. You can't always name because you don't always know who the clients are. You don't always know. So sometimes this doesn't work. But if you know things, then be specific, Father, those pastors. Because God had said, I'm trying to get it over to that pastor, that pastor, and that pastor to invite you, but they're not listening to me. Think about that. But you're laying hold of those preaching, but now address them particularly so that my spirit, because of your prayers, can speak to them. So he would say, father, I lift up that pastor and I thank you, that Lord. You're going to get it over to them to invite me. But he'll never call. He'll never make the effort in the natural. You cannot make that. You can't manipulate the relationship with Dr. Dufresne to try to get people to invite you. Do you understand? So he would never tell them, but he would pray. And he said, craig, like, for lack of a better word, it works like magic. I'm praying for those pastors, that they would hear God. Not my phone call, not seeing my business card. They'd hear God, and all of a sudden the phone call would come. Brother Noel, God woke me up in the middle of the night with your face. And you don't even have a very nice face. No, no, I'm just kidding. But I just feel like. I feel like a compulsion. I need to have you at my church. And Pastor Noel would act surprised and go, oh, really? Oh, well, isn't that interesting. Well, let me check my calendar. He knows his calendar. Let me check how busy I. He's got nothing on the calendar. But, you know, you say those things so that you look better. Let me check my calendar. Yes, that date will be available. And then he goes, and then another. This has happened to him for decades. Never one time ever has he asked for a place to preach. And he is packed. Why? Because he goes and he prays that thing out. He births it or he lays hold of it. Sometimes he'll say the pastor's names if he knows who they are. So sometimes he doesn't know who they are, so he can't specify. But what he does know is, I need a place to preach. So let me end by saying this. I'm sitting there last year, he was sharing some of these things. And God had been dealing with me about this already, but his message really helped me. This is that prayer conference. And I had just been saying, because God said, I want you to believe me for X number of preaching engagements outside your church, for that apostolic thing. And so none of them were really coming in. And so I had been saying, I'd been confessing, but I hadn't been laying hold. So I was just listen to this, the mastery. That morning, I knew he was preaching, but I don't know what he's going to preach on. But that morning I had said to God, getting dressed. I said, lord, this stuff ain't really working. I know faith works. I know confession works. But I'm doing it and nobody's inviting me. So I think I'm going to start calling people and just letting them know that I'm free. Because that's what people say. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with a minister calling a pastor and saying, just want you to know I'm available if you want me to come. There's nothing wrong with that. So I said, I'm going to do that. And so, Noel, that morning, the same morning I said, that is preaching this. And he said a statement. Now, he's not over me and the Lord, he's my equal. But you can learn from anybody, and you better be humble to learn from anybody, not just your elders. And he said, God told me, don't you ever ask a living soul, because they will many times say yes, because you are close with Dr. Dufresne, and if you do that, you will have merchandised your position with him and I will not anoint you. And when he said that, I'm telling You. It felt like somebody took a sword, not a knife, not a butcher knife, not a machete, a sword, and stuck me right through the stomach. I mean, it was. I went and I heard God say, listen, because of your proximity with Pastor Nancy, I forbid you to ever ask a living soul for an opportunity to preach because they may give it to you because you're close with her. And you will have used and manipulated that connection for your own personal gain. And I will never allow that. I repented right there on the spot, and I said, I'll never do it, Lord. I was about to, but I said, thank God for rescuing me. I didn't even know it was wrong. That's not wrong for everybody, but it's wrong for me. But it's not wrong for everybody. But I'm thinking, but, Lord, how do we. I know I'm supposed to pray and stuff, but I don't really get this because it's not working, but I'm doing a lot of confessing. And then he started talking about, you know, how I got those preaching agents, And I'm just like, ding, I'm listening. And he said, I laid hold of it in the spirit. And I thought, well, Lord, I'm praying. I'm praying, but I'm not laying hold. There's the difference. I pray, Lord, please give me preaching engagements. Lord, thank you for the. That's a prayer of faith. That's not laying hold. That's my confession. But I had to get. I learned, get in the spirit. Start grabbing those things that you have a right to and start bringing them and birthing them. And then all of a sudden, the natural, it pops through the soil. And, you know, from that day, I have now more preaching engagements than I can accept. Are you listening to me? In the United States alone, I have more preaching engagements than I can even accept. And internationally, I have three times the engagements I have in the United States. I actually turn everybody down. Like, I feel bad, but saying, can you come? No, I'm full. Could you come next year? Probably not. I'm full, too. What about the next year? Call me then. And I'm not being proud. I'm just telling you because my job is to be with you. My job is not to travel the globe. My job is to be here. So I'm not a traveling minister that can just take anything that comes. I'm a pastor, but sometimes God sends me out, and I have to be very particular when and where he sends me, because I want to be effective. But my job is this congregation, Hope you feel loved, hope you feel. I hope you feel appreciated. Because I could be almost. I could be in a lot of places this morning. I could be in a lot of places this morning that have asked me to come, but not without me asking them, because God's been putting it on their heart. But I'm not. I'm here because my loyalty is to you. So I hope you appreciate. I'm not saying that to manipulate you, but I'm just saying you need to understand that I'm not here because I'm so desperate for a place to preach. I'm here because I'm called to be here. My assignment is you, first and foremost, beyond anybody else. So be hungry. Show up. Because other people wish that they would be here. Not because I'm great, but because the office and the anointing is what is what draws people. It's not my personality or my charisma or my ability. It's that office and it's that anointing. So I'm just saying appreciate the local church. But more than that, get in the spirit. You can lay hold of what you need. You say, I need a mate. Well, there's dating websites or there's laying hold in the spirit. Let me tell you, you lay hold of that mate in the spirit, you'll get the right one. And they probably won't be ugly either. I'm believing for an investment. Lay hold of it in the spirit. I'm believing for favor for this. Lay hold of it in the spirit. Speak, lay hold, speak, lay hold. Don't forget to speak, but start to lay hold. Get in the spirit. Start praying those things out in tongues. Let the Spirit of God teach you how all that works. Because it's a very technical process. It's not just a simple praying tongues. The Holy Ghost has to help you to understand how to lay hold. And he will. Some of these things are so hard to explain in English because they're spiritual things. I can't really fully explain it to you, but. But if you'll just get in, the mighty Holy Ghost will help you. And before you know it, things will start happening and they'll start manifesting in the natural. And you'll go, oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I had no idea how easy it was. But you can't just speak. You got to lay hold. Hallelujah. There's a lot more technicals, but we've run out of time. Heavenly Father, I thank you for these precious people that have taken time to put you first, to come to your House, to lift their hands, to tithe, to sow, to serve. Many serving so many departments this morning. Lord, I thank you for them. I bless them, Lord. I don't say what I said in order to make them feel bad. I say what I said about my traveling to make them appreciate what God has given them in this church. I don't say it to make myself look good, Father. You know my heart. That's not what I'm trying to do. I just want them to know that God is blessing me and is opening up doors for me all over the world. But my primary job is to be right here with them. They are that important to you that you don't share me with too many people. You want me to pour myself into these people? Let them appreciate the gift that God has given them and the office that is in their midst that is here to feed them and to teach them. Lord, I have scriptures from this morning's message that I wanted to share, but time has run out. And I will share them in the future because I can prove what I've shared this morning by Scripture. And everything must be by Scripture. So, Father, I thank you that even though I've just kind of given them an hors d' oeuvre today, an appetizer, let them have hope. Let them realize that it's not just the confession. There is another realm that they must occupy. They must get into that place of prayer and they must do business with God in that place. And if they will do that, Father, you will answer their prayers and what they're praying out will manifest and come to pass in their lives. It is very real. This is not just a fairy tale. This is reality. I am proving it in my own life. I. Others before me have proven it more than me. Father, people in this own church right now, many of them are living this. And I'm just reinforcing what they're already doing. And they are proving it. But for the others that are not yet living it, let this, Let this ring true in their heart. Let this give them great hope in Jesus name. Let them realize nothing is unobtainable if it's the plan of God, if it's the will of God. For them, nothing, nothing is impossible. And all things can be attained and obtained if it is the plan for their particular life. What they must do is learn to get in the spirit and birth those things, lay hold of those things, pray it out until those things manifest in the natural. This is the great privilege we have of being co laborers with Jesus. We give you praise and we give you glory in the mighty name of Jesus. I thank you Father, I bless you and I love you. And I love each and every one of them. In Jesus name, Lord, let this congregation feel the love, not just of you, the Chief Shepherd. Let them feel Pastor Jenny and I's love for them. Let them know that even though I don't get to talk to all of them every week, I only get to talk to some of them every week. But Lord, that we have their names, we have their faces on our phones. We are praying for them, we love them, we are standing with them, and they are not alone. In Jesus name, they're part of a church family and together we will overcome. In Jesus precious name, we pray and I thank you.