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"Being Led By The Spirit Made Easy" Part 17 - Pastor Craig Field - May 22. 2024
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"Being Led By The Spirit Made Easy" Part 17 - Pas…
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Hallelujah. Look up, lift up your eyes and look under the horizon, you know, and the spirit realm, there's a horizon just like the natural realm. Hallelujah. And there's things that are approaching. Hallelujah. Thank God for it. We need it. We need it if we're going to go to the next place. Romans, chapter 8. Let's have a look at our theme verse here. Romans, chapter eight. Welcome, everybody. Thank you for coming to church. Thank you. For those that are watching, we welcome you, we bless you, we greet you in Jesus name. Let's talk a little bit about the Word tonight. Is that okay? Romans 8:14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. So your fundamental right as a child of God, a son or daughter of God, is that you're led. So why is it that it's the most ignorant subject in the body of Christ, and why is it that it's the least taught? You know why that is? Because the devil fights this so hard and he'll try to distract pastors or get them ignorant of it or get them confused about it. Because if the pastor doesn't understand it, he can't teach it. Do you understand? They did a survey three years ago of about 10,000 pastors in the United States. Confidential survey. Of course, it has to be confidential because if their church found out, probably going to fire them. But a confidential survey of about 10,000 pastors, a major statistical company did it. They sent me, you know, I subscribed to some of these things just to know what's going on out there. And the confidential survey was, how many minutes per week do you pray? And the average. Do you know what an average is? It means that there's less and that there's more to make an average. The average was one minute per week. Confidential. Because if their board and congregation finds out that they're playing golf all week long and on social media and doing administrative work all week long, which is what most pastors do, they probably wouldn't think their pastor is very spiritual. One minute per week was the average. Which means many of them were zero. Many of them had to have been zero. Do you understand? To balance out the ones that were maybe two minutes. Okay, so anyway, I'm just saying, if a pastor doesn't spend time praying and doesn't spend time learning, how's he going to teach anything if he's not praying? He doesn't know how to be led by the spirit if he doesn't understand it. And I'm not saying any of us are gurus at it, because we're not. We're all on a journey. But if we're not striving to learn, how do we teach it? So dad Hagin said it's the most important subject you can teach a believer. He didn't say faith was, although faith is so important. He said being led by the Spirit is the most important subject. Why? Because no matter what you face, whether you got faith or not, if you understand how to be led by the Holy Ghost, he can lead you into whatever answer you need in the Word, in life, away from the minefield, he can lead you through the swamp. He can get you to your answer, even if you don't know your answer. But that is why it is the most important subject to be taught and. And yet it is the least taught subject. That and casting out devils is the least taught subject. And yet look at our society. We have more devils than we can count. And our need to be led by the Spirit is critical. So that's why you say, how come you're taking so long? I'm not. I don't you think I'm the boss? I'm more not the boss than you think I am. Believe me, I'm not. Alright. I say, lord, what do you want? What do you want? And I don't do anything until he tells me. And he said, last year, do a series, we did 41 radio broadcasts on Led by the Spirit last year because it takes three broadcasts per sermon, because our sermons are about an hour and our broadcasts are short. And so we did that and we finished that. And I thought it was decent, I thought it was good. I thought there was some teaching and some revelation. And then I did a few other little single standalone Wednesdays. And then I said, lord, what's the next series? And I had a series on my heart that I wanted to do. And he said, not yet. And I said, okay, Lord, what else do you want me just to do single stand alones? What do you want me to do? And he said, do another series on being led by the Spirit. I said, lord, I just did 41 broadcasts. And how many sermons that represented to the congregation? He said, they haven't even close to got it yet. Did you hear what I said? He said, they haven't even got close to getting it. My God is right. And I think maybe he's including me in that statement. I don't know. I don't know. But all I know is that something this vast and this important and this critical takes A little bit of meditation and a little bit of time. Are you understanding? So don't get tired. You know, Paul says, don't be weary. You know, I do this. He says, in Philippians. He said, I'm teaching this again. I'm repeating myself again. For your safety. Remember he said that. I think it's chapter two, I can't remember. But he said, it's for your safety. So don't get tired because of me repeating myself. That's what Paul said. So sometimes things require repetition. Although we're talking about different. We're not repeating the same messages, but it's the same overall subject. And I hope you listen, because when he says stop, then you know, all you have is past ones to listen to. But we're not necessarily. We got so much other stuff to cover. We can't just talk about this forever. But it's such an important. And it's a daily thing. It's a daily thing. Today. Today. The Holy Spirit led me on a number of different occasions in different ways. Sometimes he speaks the authoritative voice. Other times it's just a bearing of witness. It's just a knowing. Other times that bearing of witness is very strong. Like it rises up, but it's still technically a bearing of witness. But it's strong. Sometimes it can be light. Sometimes he can lead you just by your spirit moving. Something happens, somebody says something, your spirit jumps. That's a leading. Other times he leads you by a flat, dead battery kind of sense where there's just no unction, there's no life. That's a leading. There are so many ways that he leads you. You can read a scripture verse and he leads you through that. You can have a dream, you can have just be meditating in your imagination. And all of a sudden something comes up out of your spirit and you see something in your mind's eye. And he leads you that way. There are so many ways that he leads you, but he wants to lead you. He wants you to be led more than you want to be led, which is why he's laboring with us to teach us this. And I think it's important for me as well as it is for you, because I get sharpened too. Do you understand? Every time you teach on something, you sharpen your own blade. So I'm learning too, and it's important for me because we don't want to make mistakes. We already made some mistakes. I know none of you have ever made a mistake. But I've made some mistakes, you know, And I don't want to make any more mistakes, and I probably will. So just hold on to your hat. Because as human beings, we make mistakes. But I don't want to make big mistakes like the plane and different things. I want to make sure we wait long enough to get God's mind on it before we move on things. Do you understand? And God is very patient. And God is not typically, always fast in terms of the initial entering. Usually he's pretty slow. But then once you get in, oftentimes things speed up. But in order to enter a phase or enter a new assignment or enter a new mandate, you really got to know. And you've got to be calm and patient enough not to jump ahead. And that takes leading. It takes patience, but you've got to be led into things. So this leading of the spirit really affects every area of your life, and it will affect you on a daily basis if you listen. He'll keep you out of traffic jams. He'll keep you from getting flat tires. I see you say, I don't believe any of that. That's okay, then. You won't have any of that. But I've proven it. He'll lead you out of dangerous situations. Today I was there, and this guy was backing up, and, you know, the pickup truck was backing up. This is little Aaron, okay? There's six people on the street at lunchtime, all right? He's backing up, and the other guy's there, and he thinks he's going to hit him, so he starts honking the horn. So I turn. I'm on my motorcycle, and I turn and. Because I was already stopped, and I'm watching this unfold, and he's freaking out, and he's honking, and the guy's backing up and. And he's pulling forward and honking, and the other guy keeps coming. And I guess he thought he was going to hit him, But I guess the other guy could see him. But you don't know if the other guy can see you. So there's nothing wrong with letting the guy know, but he was leaning on that horn pretty good. Anyway, so the pickup truck parks. The other guy is waiting for me to leave because I'm in the spot. He wants my spot. So that's why. So I'm getting my helmet on and stuff, and I'm watching this. So the pickup track guy, but he gets out of his car, and he kind of looks. He looks like somebody that is not very refined. Okay? I'm just telling you the truth about it. You know, He's a good old Boy, he's got a country boy. He's got the straw in his mouth. He's got the pickup truck and the suspender jeans, you know, you know, you know, he just, he's a country boy and that's okay, but not all country. Anyway. Anyway, I don't want to get a country boy mad at me. But he comes out and that guy is standing there waiting for me and I'm almost done and he comes and he just, I mean, road rage, screaming F this, F that, I mean, in his face. He's putting his head inside the guy's car, screaming at him, how dare you honk at me you beepity beep city dwellers. Go back to the beepity beep city. Get out of there and don't ever. I mean he is screaming and I'm just transfixed. I'm like, wow, this is live entertainment. And I feel so sorry. It was a 70 year old man in the car and this 40 something year old is just abusing him and he backs up. I get off the motorcycle because I think he's going to start punching the guy. And I'm like, bring it. I mean, I've been waiting for this. I have been waiting for this for a long time. I've got big angels and I got some weight to throw around. I mean, I've been waiting to grab somebody and throw them to the sidewalk and put my foot on them until the cop shows up. I've been waiting. I got John Biggs phone number, I'm about to call him. Johnny boy, get over here. Now. I have made a citizen's arrest and now you can take the rest of it. But so I'm literally, I got off my motorcycle because he's going to hit this poor man and I'm feeling defensive of that. Nobody should speak like that. I don't care what somebody's done. That's just flesh pot world, carnal sinner attitude and actions. And he backs up. And so I had already taken a couple steps toward them not to, just because I didn't know what he was going to do. And so I kind of step a couple steps toward him and he finishes his rampage. And he's walking back to his guard and he looks at me, sees me staring at him and he, and he looks at him and he says, oh you beepity beep. Go back to the beepity beep city. We don't want you here in our town. And I just stared at him, I just looked at him. I didn't, I wanted to Say something so bad. I wanted to say. Can I talk to you for a second? I wanted to give him counseling right there, Winston. I really did. I was so close. And I'm looking at that man and he's. He's like. He's got his hand on the steering wheel and he's just like. He's just like. He won't move. Like he's almost in shock and he's looking. And I said, lord, in my mind, I said, can I get involved? Can I do something? And I heard the Holy Ghost say, do nothing. And I asked a second time, just in case the Lord got his wires crossed. Was another situation. You know, there's a lot of things going on on the earth. You know, God sometimes crossed the wires. And I said, are you sure? Because he deserves me to say something to him. And after abusing that poor man, he deserves. I'm from Aaron. And he. And he's against the city folk. Well, I'm against him. And he needs another Aaronite to give him a good tongue lashing because he should not be abusing people like that. And I said, lord, please let me. Let me. Let me get involved. Let me. I'll wait till he gets in his truck and I'll walk up to his window just like he did to that man, and I'll knock on that window and I'll say, I want to talk to you, son. I don't care if he's older than me. I'll call him son. And the Lord said, don't do a thing. So I got on the motorcycle and I left. But I wanted to. Let me tell you something. Even when you're trying to do something noble, something good, something helpful, something to serve somebody or the community or whatever, you better check. You better check. This is called being led by the spirit. I was led by the spirit. I wanted in my soul to do something because of my sense of justice for that poor man that was abused. But the Holy Ghost is the definer of what I do. Not my soul or my nobility or my sense of right, my justice, my. I want to help the underdog. No, you've got to listen because, you know, there was just people this. Last week, I saw it on the news. Killed during road rage incidents. And then in the States, two weeks ago, there was a three car pilot because of road rage, two people were murdered. Killed. I mean, this is happening. More and more and more people are freaking out and they have weapons. And in Canada, you may not be able to carry a gun, but you can carry a Knife and God knows what that, what that what that. What that guy maybe had in his cab or maybe had on his person. And if I had done that, what I wanted to do, which would have been the just thing to do. You don't know when somebody is enraged, they're not thinking straight, and you don't know what they would do. So I'm just saying, even in that I just. I look to my spirit. You got to learn to get out of your emotions and look to your spirit. Because I felt emotional, I felt that rise. I felt that fight or flight. And I usually go the fight option, not the flight option, but I felt that rise because it's what I've witnessed an injustice. But the Holy Ghost did not want involvement. And it doesn't matter why. And I'll probably never know why, and it doesn't matter why. You've got to learn to listen. You're not. Learn to follow the emotions, but learn to follow the spirit. I'm serious on a lot of things you face. Praise God. I was on the phone. I'm just giving you out of the oven. I just had a sense. Go and call that company. And I said, lord, I haven't called that company in years. I mean, I didn't even know we had. I actually forgot we had a credit card with them. And I found this old credit card and I heard the Lord say, call him. I said, what for? I don't even use that credit card. Call him. I didn't know why. He won't always tell you why. He just wants you to obey. So I called and I said, is this account still active? Oh, yes, it's still active. You just haven't used it in many years. I said, well, can you see, send me a new card. And can you activate this? I mean, why else would I be calling? I don't know why I'm calling. You can't really tell the agent. I don't know why I'm calling you. So you just do what you think. Well, is it active? No. Well, okay. Well, maybe I should make it active. And then as I'm about to hang up, she goes, oh, sir, hold on a second. I said, what? She says, we've got a special offer for you. I won't get into all the details, but by doing that offer, they gave me a free $1,500 card. Free. And you know me, I ask questions. What is the catch? What are you selling? How this is going to come back on me? You know, I ask a lot of questions. Because if it's free. It's not always free. But this was a bona fide free $1,500 gift simply for reactivating something. And I had no idea that card. I didn't even remember we had the account. But when my eyes fell upon that card, I heard the Holy Ghost say, call them, Lord. I don't know if I had ignored that. And it was just soft. It wasn't an authoritative voice. It was just a little eating. Call them. And by doing that. And $1,500 is not the end of the world. But Jennifer's already spent it. I mean. I mean, she's already spent it. My God. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding, Jennifer. The Holy Spirit knew that was available. He knew I wasn't taking advantage of it. And he wanted to get. He wanted me to be blessed. And so he prompted me in a direction without telling me all the details. And it unfolded as I obeyed. And I was. It's not a major life changing thing. But I hung up the phone and I said, lord, you are so. I don't. You are so kind. You are so kind. The poor company doesn't know that I'm not going to use their products. But I'll take the $1,500. I'll take it. Yes, I will, because I've got other products that I use. But some people, they'll offer you incentives because they want you to use their products and they don't know what you're going to do. And so you just say yes. Now I'll tithe on that. But praise God. Hallelujah. I'm just saying a little tiny leading. Little tiny leading. Nothing big. Angels didn't appear. I didn't feel the brush of angels wings. Oh, what is that, Lord? What are you saying? Call them. Okay. They didn't get saved. There wasn't some spiritual revival that broke out. I just put $1,500 in my pocket. But God was interested in my success and he saw something was available. I didn't know and it was a tiny prompting, but you got to learn to listen to those. You got to learn to listen while you drive. Can save your life. God knows where the drunk drivers are and he'll make sure that they're nowhere near you. You've got to learn to listen while you work. You've got to learn to listen while you pray. You've got to learn to listen because God was out to help us. Oh, hi, Officer Biggs. Hallelujah. You speed toward me when I Call, you may say. I've got a citizen's arrest, brother. I'm working on it now. Romans 8, 14. For many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. It is my divine right as a child of God to be led. Which means from the moment I'm born again, I can be led. We should be a lot further ahead. Most of us, we're not just brand. By the way, tomorrow is my birthday and you didn't know it. He even said happy birthday to me. I just. This church, Lord, I don't know if they love me or not. I'm milking it. 42 years tomorrow. 42 years ago. Brown shorts, brown shirt, brown sandals, brown hair, brown eyes. I went up to a stage taller than me. A man named Tony prayed with me. And I got born again 42 years tomorrow. Hallelujah. You know, brother Randy and I got born again within 10 days of each other. Yeah. So I call him sometime and I say, you're my elder. But by 10 days anyway, in all these years, most of us are not born again yesterday. But we had the right to be led from the time we got saved. Praise God for that. Look at verse 16. And the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. This is the first leading you'll ever have. It's a knowing on the inside, a bearing of witness. Your spirit witnesses, you know, the Holy Ghost in your spirit lets your spirit know you're saved because the devil will try to tell you you're not saved. He'll try to tell you because you made a mistake, that you're not saved anymore. You know, he messes with young people, believers, because they don't know the word yet. So the first bearing of witness is you're saved. But that's the beginning of a marathon journey, and we're to have multiple leadings as he wants to lead us every day of our life. And it's supposed to be an adventure. You know, I wake up because, you know, sometimes jobs can be kind of monotonous and you have certain things to do. But I always wake up saying, lord, how are you going to lead me today? What's going to happen today? Do you have a blessing waiting for me today? Do you have somebody for me to be a blessing to that you can lead me to help somebody? Is there somebody that needs the gospel? Is there somebody that needs other kind of help? Lord, how are you going to lead me today? It's an adventure every single day. If you think about it like that you never know what is going to happen. No matter how boring you feel your life is, it can become exciting when the Holy Ghost gets involved in his leadership. He may lead you to pray a certain way. He may lead you to worship a little bit more that day. He may lead you this. He may lead you there at work. Be open to be led. Follow those little promptings. It will cause you to get promoted. It will cause you to share the gospel. I'm serious. This is a daily thing. This is not a sermon to listen to, put on the shelf and then think, I'll think about it the next time he teaches a series on it. This is something that I'm trying to get you to pick up every single day of your life. It's exciting. Praise the Lord. I love the Holy Ghost. He's so kind to us. Now, I told you last week about some different leadings. The motorcycle, Remember that one? The motorcycle was the voice. There's going to be an accident today. My interpretation of the Voice, well, obviously it's for that guy, not for me. And I paid a price for it. Praise God for his mercy. Thank God I was wearing a helmet. You know, it got cut up a little bit, but thank God I didn't die. So, you know, there's common sense. We talked about that. But that was a leading. So where was my failure? I talk a lot about my failures because people learn from other people's mistakes. You also can learn from other people's victories. But I'm long past trying to make people think I'm important or great or special or perfect, because I know I'm not. And you know how many times people come up when I'm traveling and I have no idea who these people are or that they even watch. And my most common statement isn't, you're a great preacher or anything like that. The most common thing people say, and almost every time I travel, more than one person comes up and says, by the way, I just want you to know, I watch you. I'm like, oh, well, thank you very much. And they say the most, number one thing is thank you for your honesty. Because you tell us where you've missed it and most preachers don't. And it really helps me because I've missed it so much. And sometimes I think preachers never miss it. And. And now I realize when I listen to you, you miss it all the time. Oh, God. But I'm trying to miss it less now. Don't look religious on me, because you miss it, too. But we're Trying. See, there's no shame. There's no. Because I'm not proud. Only if you're proud. Do you care what people think? Stop caring about what everybody thinks about you. I don't care what people think about me. I really and truly don't. I care about what Jesus thinks about me. I want him to be pleased with me. I want to please him. And I don't a lot of the time, but I do most of the time. Praise God. My goal is to get like Brother Hagin, who said, I haven't sinned in years, didn't commit one sin in years because he just lived by faith, lived without worry, lived in the love walk, obeyed his call, was kind to people and just obeyed the Bible and walked in the Spirit. And he went sinless for years. Can you imagine what that would feel like, that you haven't actually said, lord, I missed it here. Would you forgive me? I mean, I know Pastor Happy, you did that about 10 minutes ago, but I mean, can you imagine not doing that in years? Because you so have understood the path of God and the Word and being led by the Spirit. Oh, my goodness. There is a very high option for us, and we're so used to scratching in the dirt like chickens, but there is an ability to soar up in the clouds. I'm trying to get you there. Praise the Lord. Amen. You're okay, right? Okay. So that was the voice, then the Maui Wave. Remember I told you about that one? And that was. There was no voice. There was no leading. There was no bearing of witness. There was nothing. And when I complained to the Lord later, why did you not protect thy servant? You know, I taught God in King James, Lorna, when I'm upset. Oh, thou, Lord, why dost thou not protect thy servant? Because I think it's going to get through better or something. And he said, you didn't read the sign, son. What's that got to do with anything? It's called common sense. You didn't read the sign. Remember that, Jenny? No, but, but, but I. Listen, listen, listen to me, Jennifer. Listen to me. I'm your husband and your pastor and your boss. And I'm your Lord. Because the Bible said Sarah called Abraham Lord. It's my favorite verse. It's in the New Testament. And I'm going to keep quoting it to you. She's moved up to calling me sir, but I've said I'm not quitting until it's Lord. Small L. But I want Lord. Praise God. But when I saw that sign, there was the tiniest. I didn't even recognize it because it was so small. I didn't recognize it until later when he talked to me. There was the tiniest twinge. I mean, tiniest twinge. Read that. But Luke is running and his feet are. The sand is hot. He doesn't have sandals. He's running. Daddy, Daddy. I have to pick him up. I mean, there's a lot of things happening at the beach that tiny. Read that. And I just. I just glanced at it and it said, death beware, you know, and the wave. And I'm thinking, I grew up in Africa. I don't need that. And I just move on. But the Lord said, I didn't warn you because you're supposed to. You're supposed to. Common sense says you need to pay attention. So there is a measure of common sense. And if you don't do that, you are. Now listen. God protected me. I told you. The guy told me somebody died the year before, snapped their neck, broke their neck. Exactly what I did. That angel protected me. But because I disobeyed and I didn't use logic and therefore I was not led. That hurt my knee for three months, but God healed it after a while. I'm just saying pay attention. Use logic. Use common sense. It's not all spiritual. Do you understand? It's not all spiritual. You pay your bill. Don't use your faith to them not to turn it off. Just use your faith for the money to pay the bill. Somebody said, pastor, I'm believing God. I'm not paying this. I'm just going to believe God. And I said, but that's foolishness. That's presumption. You believe God, you owe money. Don't be a he. Don't. That's what the heathen do. That's what infidels do. Believe God for the money to pay the bill. Don't believe God, the company will forgive you. It takes more faith for the company to forgive you than it does to believe for the money. So that's called common sense. You don't need leadings on that. You just need to have common sense. And I'm telling you, in the world today, it's like people have lost common sense. Okay, the next one. The Hawaii vacation. Remember I told you about that one? That was the inward witness. There was no voice. I'm giving you examples. Hand over the button. I know I'm going to have to change it with your family. I know I'm going to have to change it with the pastor that invited me to preach I know I'm not going to have as much rest time from my last trip leading into this trip. It was not convenient. It did not make logical sense. There was no logic here. But I had the bearing of witness. See, if you don't have the bearing. Witness. Go with logic. But I had the bearing of witness. Don't do it. Do it a week early. Do it a week early. But I don't want to do it a week early. Lord, it messes things up for me. Do it a week early. And it's so strong. Like I'm trying to click like done on the screen for the plane tickets, but I can't. There was just like, I just can't. I just know I can, but I don't know why. And remember I told you that was to the day we were in Lahaina that afternoon buying my little Maui cap. And that's when that train of a. I mean, they said it sounded like a tornado. That fire as it was coming, it was going faster than people could run. And they were jumping in the water right where we were at banyan tree, right there. That store we bought all the stuff at is burned to a crisp. We would have been right there when that happened. Jumping in the water and then shutting the island down and delaying coming home. And I believe God would have saved us in mercy, but he didn't even want us around it. If you learn to be led by the spirit, he won't even put you in most cases in the situation. And if he does, then there's authority there because maybe you need to help somebody or maybe use your dominion to save somebody. But let God decide if he wants you to be a hero. Not you. You be led by the spirit. So there was one that was the motorcycle was a voice about the. About the wave was just nothing. It was common sense, but a tiny little twinge. Then the other one was a bearing of witness. Strong bearing of witness, but no explanation and no voice. Listen, I'm giving you examples of how God leads you. Pay attention. It can literally make the difference between success and failure. Now, the scooter in Guatemala. Remember the scooter? Jenny's eight months pregnant. We're going up a hill that's about 40 degrees. And you know, I was half the man I was today. But with us and her and Quinn, we couldn't get up the hill on full power. And it's just like. So I would get off and she'd be on the back and I'd push with full power to get up. I mean, it's that steep. That mountain hill was that steep. And we'd get to the top, and then, you know, you have to take your hand off the power, because once you're starting to get a level ground, if you forget that, the motorcycle will just take off without you. It's a little tiny scooter. It's got no power to it. And we get on, and we're coming down, you know, and you got to use the foot brake and the handbrake because it's so steep. You'll burn the brakes out if you just use the handbrake. And we're coming down, and we're going through, and those ladies are just sweeping, you know, I mean, just simple ladies, shop owners, whatever. They're out on the road and they look and remember, J. Every one of them stop and look at us. No smile and just shaking their head. And I'm like, what's wrong with these people? We're smiling. We got our yellow helmets. We got our yellow motorcycle. And then after we cut the yellow helmets out because we got fed up with it, that's probably not good. But I just took the chance because nobody wore helmets, so I felt like I was conspicuous. And we just smiled, and then just. We couldn't figure out every week for almost three months, going through there to get our groceries, coming back up with our groceries. You know, you got them on the handlebars with three bags each handlebar. You got to get them level. Otherwise the bike will start turning this way. So you gotta measure it out. And then Jenny's got one, you know, between us, between Quinn and me, there's another grocery bag. And then Jenny's got both in her hands. And then we've got one tied to the back of the scooter. We look like that guy with the goats on the thing. I mean, that's us. Okay? And we're going. And can you imagine now having to go back up that hill? That's even harder. Because now we got 30 pounds of groceries. But we made it. Did it every week. The day we're leaving for the airport, the man said, where did you buy your groceries? Because I know the stores here are not very good. Oh, we went down to the E Pair pies down there. Which one? Oh, that one down there. He says, no, not the one in that town. I said, yeah. He says, well, how long did it take you to get? You obviously had to go around the mountain. I says, oh, no, no, we went over the mountain. Do you remember that? We were in a bulletproof vehicle. Because there's so much drug cartel stuff there and we're like a tank kind of thing that he's driving us to the Guatemala airport and he is over the overseer of the Assemblies of God of all five Central American countries. So he's a big wig. And we only met him the last week. And so he said, no, hold on. He said, I need to get this straight. You went over the mountain, down the mountain and you drove on this road, you through three villages to get to that town? I said, yeah. And he said, how often did you do that? I said we did it every week, sometimes twice a week. And remember he went pale. I remember that. That's a bad sign. And I said, what's wrong, brother? He said, pastor Craig. He didn't call me pastor because I wasn't a pastor. He said, brother Craig, he said, this is a bulletproof vehicle that we're in here. He said, I won't even let my wife drive this vehicle to that town. He said, do you understand what you've done? And I said, what are you talking about? He said, that is the most dangerous town in all five countries. That road, but particularly that town right at the bottom of the mountain that we came through with the ladies shaking their head at us. He said, that is the most dangerous town in all of Central America at that time at least. And he said the drug cartel headquarters are there. And he said, and they catch gringos. That's a gringo, is a green eyed, that's a white skinned person. They catch them and every week they decapitate a white person and put their head in the middle of the street because they don't want any gringos in their territory. I said, are you kidding me? Like I wish. Then I went pale. And he said, I don't understand. You went on a motorcycle? No, it was a scooter. It wasn't even a motorcycle. And he said, you took your pregnant wife and you did this every week? He said, why did. I said, nobody told me it was dangerous. He said, pastor Craig, he said, it is astonishing you're alive. And I said, is that why they would look at us? And I told him and he goes, he said, I thought it was the yellow helmet at first. And he says, no, they're looking at you shaking their head, thinking they're dead and they don't know it. And any moment they're going to come and get them. Any second they're going to come and get them, decapitate them, put their heads in the road and that's why? They're shaking their head like you're dead, but you don't know it yet. But every week the little yellow scooter is going in and out and the ladies are just shaking their head. And I'm thinking, lord, listen to me. I'm trying to help you. I said, lord, why didn't you lead us? Are you listening? Why didn't you lead us? And the Holy Ghost said, because I chose to protect you. You're not responsible if you don't have knowledge. You know what I'm saying? I mean, listen, if you, you know, don't have knowledge, it's an 80 zone and you're driving 300. You kind of know that in general, it's 180, 70. You can't really claim that with God, but in this case. So there's ditches on that. But in this case, there was no way for us to know. Nobody said a word to us. The missionaries in the city we were in, the teachers, nobody said a word to us. We were completely ignorant. And God could have given us a bearing, a witness. He could have spoken to us, could have given us a dream. He could have used somebody. But I'm just telling you, God is astonishing because sometimes he will on purpose not lead you away from danger just so he can display his glory. And he said to me, he said, you have no idea how close you were to death. He said, but my angel was with you. I remember, Jenny, he said, my angel was with you. And he said, I did that on purpose so that you would have a testimony for the rest of your life that even when you're in the most dangerous place, that part of the world, the angel of the Lord, Psalm 34, verse 7, encampeth about them that fear him and delivereth them. I don't understand that. To me, it would make more sense for God to have led us not to go there. But I'm telling you, there are certain cases, David Hogan has more stories than you can count, where God leads him into death situations. They're about to kill him, and an angel shows up and delivers him. Why? So that the glory of God can be displayed and people can. Now, even if it was just for that one, he's over the whole Central America. It could have just been for him because he marveled, God protected you. Like, to him, it was a revelation that God can do that. Maybe it was for him because he lives in that environment all the time. He wouldn't even let his wife go in a bulletproof vehicle. So obviously there's a Measure of fear there. Maybe God did it just for him as a sign and a wonder to show that man. If I can protect people on the yellow scooter that are pregnant, I can protect you here in your bulletproof vehicle. Who knows why God did that? All I know is that if there's no leading, the angel of the Lord protects us. Oh, Jesus. It still amazes me even to this day. Jenny. Praise God. Here's another leading, which I've said before, but I want to say it again. When you're praying about something and there is a note of victory, there's a note of joy, there's a note of praise, okay? Do not assume ignorantly that because you've got a note of victory, the prayer assignment is over. And a lot of people do this, and there's not a lot of teaching on this. But I've learned this, and I've talked to Pastor Nancy privately, and she of course agrees. But I don't know why there's just not a lot of teaching on this. Because we've been taught when there's a note of victory, it's done. And I've learned more often than not, it's not done. So what is the determining factor as to whether your assignment in prayer is the need for you to pray is done or not? It's not about a note of victory. What it is about is you check your spirit for an unction, for an anointing to pray. Because I've noticed many times, are you listening? There is big things that requires more than one prayer session. You can't deal with everything in one prayer session. You got to go and revisit it and bring it before the Lord. Especially with intercession, if there's big situations, little ones, not so much, but big ones, they require laboring in prayer, and you can't do that in one day. Your body just can't handle it. Especially if you're in intercession. The pressure on your physical body when you're groaning and interceding, you can't do that for that long. You need a break, and so you can come back to it later that day. But I'm telling you, many times I've said, oh, yeah, I feel that note of victory, and I'm done. And then I think, well, whatever I'm praying for is done. And then a little while later, the Lord will say, why aren't you praying about that? I said, lord, I don't need to pray about that. I got the note of victory, it's done. And he taught me this himself. He said the note of victory doesn't determine whether it's done. The note of victory determines whether it's done for that day. Are you listening? The note of victory tells you if it's done for that day, not that it's done. You go back now, the next time, you pick that up again and listen, if there is an unction and an anointing, if the Holy Ghost takes hold with you, then you're not done that assignment. You had just done it for that day. Then you pick it back up and he takes hold with you and you push through. You lay hold of that and you keep doing it. But he'll give you a note of victory because he's letting you know this session is done. Hallelujah. How much have we let go because we thought we were done? Because we got a little bit of praise going on? But that's not the determining factor. That is a temporary. You're done for now. That doesn't mean you're done permanently. The only way you're going to know if you're done permanently, and I've learned this is because I know that now, unless he shows me I'm done, which he usually doesn't, I'll go back and I'll attempt to pick that thing up again in prayer. Lord, and how do you pick it up? Lord, regarding this thing, now you tell God, specify, Lord, regarding this thing, I pray now in the Holy Ghost, I pray out the plan according to 1st Corinthians 14:2. You told me I could pray out the mystery. And 14:4 says that you'll organize and you'll specify to me what I need because I'm building. I'm building a great building here of my life. And so now help me, great foreman, Holy Ghost, specify and organize my prayer. And Lord, I pick this up now and I lift it before you. And I'm going to reach in now and take hold with me, Holy Ghost. And I'm going to lay hold of this thing and I'm going to pray this thing out and I begin to pray. I can tell within 30 seconds if there's an anointing or not. And if you're. If you learn to be sensitive, you'll be able to tell if you never pray, you're never going to be able to tell if there's an anointing. How many people pray without an anointing? Do you realize that you shouldn't be praying if there's no anointing? I'm talking about that kind of praying. You don't need to feel an anointing to pray the prayer of worship or. You know what I'm saying? But there's certain kinds of praying, especially in the spirit, that you need the Holy Ghost to help you. So what you need to do is learn. I'm trying to help you if you'll listen. I'm kind of reaching into another area here beyond the leading of the spirit. But it's all connected. Listen to me. If you never get in the spirit, you don't know what it feels like. You don't know what that anointing feels like when you're in the spirit. And when you're not in the spirit, the anointing is there, but very minimally. And it's very hard to sense that anointing. Are you listening? So here's the problem. People pray, but their mind is zzzz. You know what? Burger King has a special two for one. I'm going to do that tomorrow at lunch. You know what? I noticed that that STP gas treatment was put in the wrong spot in the garage. I'm going to have to switch that around. I got to vacuum that. Don't forget, I got to vacuum. Yes. Oh yeah, the dog, the vet appointment. I got to Change it till 11 o'. Clock. And don't laugh at me because that's exactly what happens. That's exactly what happens. Your mind is unfruitful when you're speaking in the spirit. So your mind goes, hey, we're not doing anything. Let's figure out what's going to happen next week. Let's think about what happened last week. Let's to do our to do list. It wants to operate because it's not functioning when you're speaking in tongues. That's why. And listen. And that thing when you're just. You're getting. Are you listening? You're walking from your umbrella and you're walking toward the water. That's what you're doing. And it's tough and it's. It's not. You're not in a flow. You're not in the spirit yet. And your mind wants to wander and everything. And you're fighting against that thought process and you've got to pull it into subjection. And the way I do it is I say, stop, mind. I commend you in Jesus name. I actually speak to my own mind. You will not think thoughts. You will focus on Jesus and focus on my spirit. And I force my mind into subjection. Are you listening? In that process, I'm walking to the water, there's not much anointing. And even when there is, you don't feel it much. That's why when people start to pray, they say, I don't feel the anointing. I don't feel anything. I don't feel God. Because you're not in the water. And most people, because it's so challenging for them to press through this emotional thing and this mental thing that they never get to the water's edge. They quit before they get there, and then they're discouraged. That was hard. Wow. You know, prayer is really hard. And then they get religious. Oh, but it's so hard. But we do it. Oh, Lord. It's so hard and boring and I hate it, but I do it. Aren't I a good Christian? Oh, yes. You give God your resume. Don't you know I pray? I'm trying to help you. I'm not trying to offend you. If you never get to the water's edge, you never really know what the anointing feels like. So how can you know if there's an unction or an anointing to pray for something if you don't know what the anointing feels like? Are you listening now? You're going to decide that based on the situation you're praying for. And if you can see physical change, I don't see this changed. So therefore, it must not be done yet. But that's got nothing to do with it. You go with your spirit, not what it looks like in the natural. But if you don't know the anointing. Do you understand? The devil is after the anointing. The devil hates the anointing. The devil was the most anointed creature in the universe. The devil was more anointed than any of us could ever be from one perspective, because he was in the throne room of God as the chief archangel, the anointed cherub that covereth. He knows the anointing now. Only difference is he never had him living inside him. So from that perspective, from an anointing upon Satan, Lucifer had far greater than any of us will ever experience. But from the anointing within, we got something that he'll never experience, or any angel for that matter. Do you understand? That's why we're the greatest. That's why we're the greatest created beings ever. Because God lives in us. And he never lived in Abraham, he never lived in John the Baptist and never lived in Adam, but he lives in us. Hallelujah. What was I saying? Jennifer. Oh, God. Pastor Happy Strike one. Thank you, Chantel. Extra bonus points and none for you. If you don't understand the anointing, the devil is. He hates the anointing. The anointing is what destroys the yoke. The anointing is what accomplishes things. The anointing is God painting himself on you. The anointing is God painting himself on you. The actual word means to paint. In the Hebrew. The anointing is God removing you from your soul. It's God doing it. That's why we need the anointing. Because it's divine power that we don't have without it. It's so important. Now listen, if he doesn't want you to understand the anointing, because he knows the anointing is what changes the game. So if he can get you, keep you out of the spirit, you won't know what the anointing feels like. Because walking to the water's edge, you don't feel much. Are you listening? If you don't know what it feels like, you'll be discouraged. That's one victory for him. But if you don't know what it feels like, you won't know if there's an unction or not, if there's an anointing or not to pray for something, because you don't know what it feels like. So you're moved by your emotions, you're moved by the need. You're new, by the stress of. And you're supposed to be moved by here, not by the rest of it. So it's so important that everyone within the sound of my voice learns what the anointing, and I don't like the word feels, but there is a feeling to it because your emotions can respond, your body can respond. Your spirit comes out of your spirit, but the rest of you, your soul and body will respond. There's a response to the anointing when we worship and that presence comes, that is the corporate. You can sense it. That's not the anointing I'm talking about. I'm talking about the anointing within you. There's an anointing within you. You have an unction of the Holy One inside you that anointing. You're supposed to know what it feels like. Then if you can just press through, quiet that mind. Command it to obey you. Stop being so lazy in your thinking. Command your thoughts to obey you and press. There's a press in prayer. Lord, I press to get into the spirit, and you start to pray. You may not feel the anointing much right now, but just pray. I tell you, it won't take very long. If you get skillful, you can do it in less than a minute. But if you're not skillful, it will take you an hour. You've got to press until you get skillful, and it will get shorter and shorter the more skillful you get. Dad Hagin, as soon as he opened his mouth, he was in the Spirit. Most people takes him a minute or two, but you can get there. And what you're doing is you're walking toward the water's edge. This is still on the sand. This is not the Spirit. Now, what Rachel Tiefa Tiller said is that you go past the veil. There's a veil in the Spirit. You walk past it. Now, that's this realm, and this here is the realm of the Spirit. Randy Greer says, step over the log. It's like something has shifted. I call it stepping into the water. When you get there, you put your foot, your spiritual foot. You're praying. And as soon as you step into that, now you're only in the baby waters, yet you're not in the deep things of God. You're in the very shallow things of God, but you can tell something's different. You've just put your foot in that water. Now I'm off the sand. I'm actually in. This whole body of water is the realm of the Spirit. And there is deep places and there are shallow places. And it's in the Book of Ezekiel because it says that you've got ankle deep and you've got knee deep and you've got waist deep and you've got water to swim in. So even God uses the analogy of water for the realm of the Spirit and for the realm of prayer. So it's a scriptural analogy. But if you learn to just get in, how do you. Pastor Greg, how do I know that I'm. That I've stepped in? Well, it's hard to explain spiritual things in English, but for sake of argument, when I step in, I can just sense. I can sense that anointing. See what I'm saying? You got to learn to feel that anointing. I can sense the anointing on my praying is stronger, and it's distinct from the sand to the water. My mind becomes crystallized. That's another way you can. I don't mean weird, but your mind, you don't have to fight to keep the thoughts, right? It's like the thoughts just fall into line. That's another way you know, you're in the spirit, the anointing is stronger. Your mind is not fighting you. It's an easier flow. Sometimes the sound of your tongues change, sometimes they don't. Don't go with that. Just go with sensing. Ah, I feel that flow. I feel that anointing. My mind is not fighting me as hard. Now you're technically in shallow waters of the spirit. Now you're learning what the anointing feels like. Now if you just keep going, the longer you can stay there, Kenneth Hagin said, the more skillful you'll become in that realm. And if you keep going and keep picking it up every day, every day and getting in the spirit every day, you'll go from an ankle, you'll go to knee, and eventually you'll go into places of the spirit that in prayer that you didn't even know existed. And it's available for us. But of course, we all want to be on TikTok and we all want to do our extracurricular and we all want to watch our movies. And there's nothing wrong with any of that. Unless it takes the place of prayer, then it becomes an idol, then it becomes in place of God, then it becomes wrong. But in balance is fine. Are you listening to me? But many people are out of balance, so I have to keep reminding you. Stop being so busy. It's not about praying. It's about getting in the spirit. Any monkey can pray. Well, monkeys can't pray, but you know what I'm saying. Any monkey Christian can pray and rattle off a few words in tongues and think that they've done their big duty. That doesn't mean that you're in the spirit and you can't accomplish much on the sand. You've got to get in the spirit. You learn to pray till you step in. And as when you're in recognize. Oh, now this is not a trance like Marie Woodworth Etter where now you're suspended. Everything is suspended. That's not what being in the spirit is. You're aware. You can hear the dog bark. You still feel your stomach growl that you're hungry. None of those natural things go away because you're in the spirit. You're still aware. But I'm saying you're aware in your spirit, man, and in your soul, your mind. I have. I am in something different than I was when I started. It is stronger, it is clearer, it is easier, it is a smoother flow. It's like getting from gravel onto nice fresh paved road. That's what it feels like. Now you're in the spirit. You're in the baby part of the spirit, but you're in it. Learn the sense of that anointing. Learn what it feels like. Spend a little bit of time. Go a little bit deeper. Learn what that feels like. Don't just step out because you put your foot in. Get in. Go in. Wait on God. Wait on God. Do it. Are you listening to me? I don't know if I'm helping you, but I'm telling you what you need to do. Now, if you learn that flow of the anointing, then when you're praying for something and there's a note of victory, remember, that could just be for today. So go pick that thing up. Say, lord, I lay this before you again. I bring this. Take hold with me, Holy Ghost. I reach out and I lay hold. But you take hold of me and I'll take hold of it. In about 30 seconds to a minute, you're going to tell if you know the anointing. If there's an anointing to pray. If there's no anointing to pray, stop praying. Do you understand? Because if he's not helping you, then you know you're not really accomplishing what you need to accomplish. Now you can confess the word and you can pray the prayer of agreement. You can do other kinds of prayers without that anointing. But I'm talking about when you're praying out things and laying hold in the spirit. If you don't have him helping you, you cannot do it at length and you will not be successful no matter what, because you can't do it without the anointing. So you have to learn the anointing. If you're going to pick that up, I'll finish with these two stories and then I'll let you go. But I won't tell you the name. I know the name of the minister, but I'm not going to say it because we're live streaming. But brother Randy has told me privately, he recently preached it again that, you know, he was this man who was an ungodly man, very ungodly man and had been cruel to people, used his power to hurt people's lives. Lots of people with power, they do that. He got very, very sick, very sick. And he was dying. And so they called the prophet. The family were not word of faith, but they heard of Randy. They knew he had a. They knew he had an anointing. Him and a couple other word of faith rhema ministers went. And Randy said, and I won't say the names, but the other rhema rim ministers, they're dancing and prophesying. And the Lord will raise him up. I know before the end of the week, says the Lord, he will be raised up from this deathbed and you'll be a governor again. And you'll be, you know all this stuff because it's in the big palatial mansion and there's security and there's secular people and doctors. And so these people are. That's not the spirit. That could be, but it wasn't. They're doing that because they're in the company of greatness. You gotta look to your spirit when you're in the company of greatness, not be moved by the greatness. So Randy's quiet. Come on, Randy, come on. And they try to. And he goes, no, I'm okay. No, brother, come on now it's your turn to prophesy. No, I'm okay. The daughter came up to him afterwards and said, I don't know you very well, but I do know you a little bit from your preaching that when you're quiet, something's up. What's up? And he says, well, I don't want to. I'm fine. She pushed it out of him. He said, well, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but your dad's dead. He's going to die. God's not going to raise him up. And all that was false. And do you know why he's going to die? Because he was cruel and he mistreated people all his life. And God told me, while they're prophesying, God told me, because of his sin and his unrepentant heart, I will not heal him. He will die. And he said, he'll be dead in a couple days, so you might as well say goodbyes. And then he walked out. So don't invite Randy if you want nice prophecies, but invite Randy if you want to know the word of the Lord. That's the leading of the spirit. But listen, there was no unction to prophesy. There was no anointing to pray, because as he started to pray, did so. There are certain things you shouldn't even pray for. Kenneth Hagin going to his sister who was dying five years with cancer. And the Lord said, don't even pray. Now, he could have tried, but there was no anointing to pray. He said, she's going to die. I'm not healing her because she's lazy. But that doesn't sound like the Jesus I know. Well, then I guess you don't know Jesus because he's very merciful and he will give people years. But eventually enough, and she died. And there was no unction or anointing to pray. And he couldn't pray. If he had tried to pray, he would have just been dead. Because you can't heal somebody. God has to heal them. And if God tells you I'm not healing them, then there's no point praying. Now if there is an anointing to pray, that's different. That's different. David's first raising from the dead that little boy that drowned member in the river. But there was an anointing and he's. He doesn't know what he's doing. I mean, I wouldn't know what I was doing either, but there's an anointing. And the Lord said, now speak. And he said, come back. And that little heart. Pooh his shirt. Remember he said, I saw his shirt go poof. And he said, oh, did you see that? Did you see that? What is that? They're all freaking out. Come back. Come back. His spirit came back into his body. But there was an anointing to pray. If there's no anointing, don't waste your time. God's not going to do it. God's not going to heal the person. God's not going to break through in the business. God's not going to raise the. Whatever the situation is, you've got to have an anointing if there's an emergency. If you don't know what the anointing feels like, how are you going to know if it's there? That's why you have to have a prayer life of stepping into the spirit regularly so you know what that anointing feels like. Oh, Jesus. Hallelujah. I gave you some nuggets tonight. Why did our prayers not work, Pastor Craig? Well, now you know. Oh, but they were all hyper. Who cares? Hyper does not mean spiritual. Screaming does not mean spiritual. Emotional crying does not mean spiritual. If it's spiritual, it comes out of there. Learn to look to here. Hallelujah. Learn. Even with my son and all the stuff we've gone through, my wife and I keep looking here. We look here and in here there's an anointing that rises up. And that's why we know it will end in victory, because there's an anointing in here when we pray. Hallelujah.