Bars | Pastor John Gray

[Music] Matthew chapter 4 starting at the first verse reading from the New King James Version then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness freeze anywhere the spirit leads you is up that's note number one he'll never lead you down if you're going down that's not the Holy Ghost okay Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights afterward he was hungry now when the tempter came to him he said if you are the son of God command that these Stones become bread but he answered and said it is written in his written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God let's freeze right there I want you to grab this first verse then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil the wilderness barren lonely isolated disconnected and when you are in barren lonely isolated or disconnected places you better have a connection that man can't see so I want to preach from the subject heading because we're still in the reset series where we're concluding that series today but this is reset part three bars bars how many y'all have a cellphone so you see those bars those are the bars I'm talking about cuz you're late we bout to drink in here is this communion No everybody say bars when those bars are empty you don't have a connection now I know you guys are cerebral but I'm gonna need you to talk back to me for a moment and then I'll let you take your notes but I need you to take a look you see these trees you see this forest this wilderness I don't know about you but I'm sure there are people here that like to go camping and praise God for you you are you a camper okay now when you go camping do you go camping or do you go camping like real camping is a tent you know a lantern kerosene a hole in the ground okay she said a Holiday Inn on wheels that's what I'm that's my kind of camping I want camping with air conditioning table I don't want no mosquitoes I'm not going fishing I don't want to hunt for my food I want camping with room service but there are people who actually go out in the woods and they like it and they actually pitch a tent and they sit there they make a fire and they make s'mores and they talk and they share which is weird and they build relationship and they they hike on purpose in the mountains oh look there's a giant bear he's so cute he's gonna eat your face off [Applause] everybody say wilderness depending on your preparation it could mean one thing or something altogether different the wilderness is scary if you're not prepared but if you are trained for it then it does not cause you to be afraid you don't mind being in the wilderness because you know what it takes to survive in the wilderness one of the great challenges of today's contemporary Christian individual is that we have not been trained in the wilderness so we don't know how to survive in the wilderness and so when there are moments of deficit or moments of disconnection we find ourselves searching for things that we should already have on us because it's called the wilderness for a reason there are moments in your life that God has designed for you to be alone yeah I know that we won't shout about it but it's important for you to learn it because as long as we keep trying to hoard people around us when God is trying to get us alone we're going to miss the development that he intends for us to have there's a difference between being lonely and being alone because God wants to get you alone because he doesn't want you distracted everybody say bars when your phone doesn't have bars that means you don't have the ability to make an outgoing call and nobody can get to you as well it's critical that when you are in the wilderness you have the ability to stay connected to your source everybody say your source so important why we're doing this reset series for you to get this in your spirit that Jesus is more than salvation on Sunday he is life and hope Monday through Saturday as well we've got to take our Sunday experience and encounter and we need to make it a real and active and viable part of our everyday life otherwise we are just attending church and not moving towards discipleship which is the goal of New Testament scripture that we look more like Jesus each time that we gather this is the construct I know that it's not the presentation or the product but it is the construct because sometimes the product is entertain me the product is make me feel good but the construct is grow up take responsibility learn how to pray learn how to fast learn how to discipline yourself so when the devil comes you can speak to Devils and they move right away the reason why I asked the music deceased is because in moments like this we get so emotionally connected to the moment that we don't get the Nugget and I've been guilty of it my whole life but today things are shifting I feel the Holy Ghost in here Jesus was in the wilderness I need you to write this down for those who are taking notes there was nothing that the father allowed in the life of Jesus that was arbitrary there was nothing that happened by serendipity there were there were no mistakes there were no chance encounters Jesus was in the wilderness because he had to be I need you to write this down it'll change your life the wilderness is necessary I'm gonna say it again the wilderness is necessary you will you will struggle your whole Christian life running from wilderness moments when God is trying to get you into the wilderness because you can't get to purpose without going through the wilderness the wilderness and I love this the Bible says that Jesus was led up by the spirit to into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil but if you continue reading it says that he fasted 40 days and 40 nights and afterwards he was hungry now that's a level of discipline I'm not there yet he wasn't hungry during the fast he was hungry after the fast because he was so focused on his on his consecration that he didn't have time for a carnal appetite what God is doing in this season for many of us as he's resetting our appetites he's resetting our affection he's resetting our vision and the things that we used to be hungry for we're not hungry for anymore is there anybody other than me that God is resetting some necessary areas of your life and if he's not if you want him to reset some areas of your life would you give him a praise or wave a hand and say God reset me the Bible says that Jesus after fasting forty days and forty nights after that he was hungry but during that he was consecrated he was focused he was in the wilderness have you ever been in the woods with your phone and couldn't get a signal anybody had been in the woods we light now we don't go to the wood we go to the mall but we don't I've been in remote locations and I'm talking and all of a sudden a signal goes dead because there's no cell tower close enough for the signal to remain when you're in the wilderness and there is no external power you better have an internal connection I'm gonna keep on preaching it I feel God in here it's funny because the Bible doesn't say that Jesus was tempted during the wilderness after he fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was hungry then the tempter came so it shows me a principle and I want you to write this down the enemy comes in the space between the consecration and the assignment while he was consecrated enemy couldn't touch him as he was leaving the wilderness the enemy comes to tempt him before he goes into his Galilean ministry this is very important that the enemy is looking for any gap there's always a space of time between what the Lord is preparing you for and you walking into it and the enemy wants to get into space between the two because if he can get you off in that moment that's his only shot so if there is warfare anywhere in your life it's because you're in the space between your preparation and your activation and I need somebody to get excited about the fact that you've gone through preparation there's been a slight gap but you're about to be activated when you get a new phone you don't just turn it on it has to be activated God's about to activate your service and I need somebody to get that in your spirit high five one person telling activation going into the wilderness isn't the test coming out of the wilderness that's the test anybody can go into the wilderness is coming out of the will deceive many people was supposed to be forty days and forty nights you've been there 30 years you've been there ten years you've been there you've been there nine months you've been you've been in the wilderness and God said you were always supposed to be here forty days and forty nights you've been a net that you've been in that relationship I mean you've been in that habit excuse me you've been in that wilderness so long you wonder why your life doesn't line up with the picture that he showed you years ago but there were things that you did that prolonged your wilderness experience and so there are things that you and I have to take accounting for and responsibility for and say there are areas where I have prolonged my wilderness experience beyond God's prescribed timing because of choices that I made but the beauty of the wilderness if you get in touch with the Holy Ghost is that what took you years to get in can take you moments to get out I wish I had a church that would bless him [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the enemy looking for gaps the other thing you need to understand is that the enemy tests hunger he tests hunger after he fasted forty days of forty nights elder Jesus was hungry it didn't say what he was hungry for it just said he was hungry so the enemy knew Jesus was hungry he didn't know what he was hungry for so he offered him things that he thought Jesus was hungry for so he said if you are the son of God command these stones to become bread the first thing he offered him is I'm gonna offer you a false identity I want to see maybe you want to know who you are let me define you the enemy will always define you if you don't know who you are oh yes I'm preaching this morning do not let the enemy define you by your hunger he's looking to defer he wants to see what you'll eat from his hand are you insecure let me give you notoriety you don't think God can provide let me give you fast cash short cuts in your taxes let me let me show you how to do this that in the third you lonely you don't know how to control your flesh let me give you somebody that will appease your flesh but they'll kill your soul [Music] he will offer you what he thinks you're hungry for this is why when you're in the wilderness you can't be playing around with spotty spiritual self-service you better have a reservoir you better have an external battery pack that says it is written I need some it is written Saints in here today and on relentless online community I need you to just get it out of your mouth and say it is written hide the word in my heart that I might not sin against you whoo you better be able to declare to that lying devil it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God it is written do not tempt the Lord your God it is written [Music] [Applause] tell somebody it is written you better have the Word of God somewhere on Reservoir Jesus was in the wilderness nobody was there he had no disciples his family thought he was crazy all he had was a word from God in a connection to his father now when you're in the wilderness God purposely cuts off communication from the outside world because the wilderness is for you to know who you are you got to know what's in you the wilderness shows you the wilderness will show you your insecurities it will show you your fears it will show you your shortcomings it will show you your hungers and these are necessary things because once you get into ministry you can't be messing around not knowing what your weaknesses are you better know what you you better know what your triggers are before you get into ministry before you get into your calling before you get into your purpose you better know I can't do that can't have that conversation came entertainment can't go to lunch with her I don't care how say she looked at ain't God know I can't mess with him I can't hang there I need to know what my strengths are and what my weaknesses are and that's what the wilderness is for God will prepare you in the wilderness so you don't end up desert and desolate later tell somebody go in the wilderness now the people that didn't process right what the children of Israel died in the wilderness it was an eleven-day journey took him 40 years 11 days and it took 40 years and if you didn't have the right spirit you stayed in the wilderness but the ones who had the right spirit came out Oh created me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me cast me not away from my presence Oh God and take not thy Holy Spirit from me then I'll teach transgressors your ways is there anybody grateful that the Holy Spirit resides on the inside hello hello hello I can't hear you hello hello when you're in the wilderness you better make sure if you want your bars because when you have no bars you're in trouble it's for bars you see them for bars I want you to grab these four points point number one if you're going to survive in the wilderness the first bar is prayer you saw that they didn't see it got in CC as soon as we say in prayer you got signal it went from red to green because as soon as you posture yourself to look up anybody ever had bad service and you lifted your phone up anybody ever let you know why because you knew if I can get enough elevation if I could get the phone high enough maybe the interference will not be there the higher you lift your phone the better opportunity for the signal to connect to the tower lift up your head oh ye games I'm looking for some people that know how to lift up their mouths in prayer now I can I can keep my head down and complain to you and talk to you or I could get caught up with the devil and people up under me and talk here but that doesn't help my signal if I really want my signal strength to go up I need to posture my words heavenward look to the hills from whence cometh your help your help comes from somebody give him a praise [Applause] your signal is directly connected to your prayer life tell somebody pray pastor Mariah you bless my soul this morning that prayer is a conversation between us and God not a five-minute monologue and a wish list for him to do like he's our errand boy he is the holy God the Living God we don't he doesn't exist for us we exist for him which means we don't give him a list he gives us a list over here prayer your signal is directly connected to your prayer life sometimes your signal strength gets low cuz you got too many windows open need to close some of your windows tell somebody closing windows windows are symbolic of distractions you have too many distractions God can't even get a hold to you one-on-one every time he wants to talk to you somebody else's texting somebody else is calling something else has your time or your favorite TV show is on or or you just don't really want to face God coz you don't really want him to get into your business but he already knows your business so I don't know what you're running for anyway and he loves you so why are you running from the one that loves you and running to the ones that hate you they will turn on you in five seconds flat and they didn't like you anyway [Applause] prayer is the first place to strengthen your signal with the father it is the place but here's the thing sometimes signal strength if you got too many windows open or too many apps open it diminishes the ability for the signal to get through you need to write this down where you browsing in the spirit and in the natural check your browser if I want to know about you I'll check your browser history it tells me everything it tells me what you look for tell me what you read tells me what you like the Holy Spirit is saying I need to I need to clear your browser I need you to only search for me I need you to search the word I need you to stop being carnal I need you to stop being insecure I need you to get up out of your flesh and I need you to stay in prayer with me you're in the middle of a wilderness and when you're in the wilderness you don't have time to be playing video games and acting silly and goofy you need to grow up you need to mature and you need to develop some disciplines because I'm trying to get you somewhere and it's not just you but there are people connected to your life do you understand the urgency of this season stop being lazy stop being casual in the spirit get up getting your word when I wake you up I'm not asking you I'm telling you get on your face not on your knees get on your face your knees is one thing but your face is another and when you get on your face you're saying cop from the dust I came in from the dust I will return blessed be the name of the Lord God wants us to walk with him and when your connection gets stronger when your connection gets stronger the things you need will invariably get to you see prayer is critical it is it is mandatory you need to write this down prayer is mandatory I've always wondered how my mother got the power that she had but it's directly related to her prayer life you have power when you pray it's not sexy to pray but if you won't power it you'll pray I know you you busy everybody's busy but you if you're too busy to talk to the one that has all power you need to reprioritize your life when you look at the life of Jesus his secret weapon was prayer now some of y'all are staring at me and I love you but if you come to 8:30 service you might as well write this down Jesus secret weapon was prayer we have too many people attending service and nobody wants to change nobody wants to grow and I'm not talking about y'all I'm talking about somebody at another church across the street because everybody in here wants to grow it if you're watching online everybody wants to grow nobody's just watching cuz they're hating waiting on something to be said anyway I'm just saying if you're in here right now you want to grow and if you want to grow then it starts with your prayer life hear me pray pray as a as a discipline so that you're not forced to pray because you have to [Music] because I can tell you you can either foster and cultivate a prayer life or life will force you to your knees either way you gonna pray the Bible makes it clear as pastor Moriah said first Thessalonians 5:17 we are to pray without ceasing that doesn't mean you literally pray every second of the day it means that you have a posture of Prayer you don't make a decision that is central to your life without prayer you don't move without prayer you don't take that job offer without prayer you don't enter that relationship without prayer you don't let your kids go to that school without prayer y'all don't make that purchase without prayer y'all don't make that decision without prayer you ask the Lord for direction what do I do what should I how should I posture myself where do I go what's the direction of the family I'm not making those decisions in my flesh or based on what I want or my personal life goals I need to pray the Bible makes clear that Jesus prayed he prayed at his baptism he prayed in the morning before heading to Galilee he prayed after healing people prayed all night before choosing disciples he prayed when speaking with leaders Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray write this down lonely places very important lonely places it's great to have corporate prayer you and your family if you're the head of your household man of God you cover your family in prayer you and your wife pray wise pray with your husbands pray over the children if you're not married but you have kids pray over your children but then you also have to have a personal prayer life in this strange what we shout for we want the things what we don't want the God of the things a personal prayer life is essential I got to be able to get to God I pray over my wife I pray over my kids I pray with my wife but I also pray by myself because he didn't save us he saved me are you understanding what I'm saying I have a soul that I will have to give an account for aventure has a soul she will have to give an account for my son my daughter they have a soul they will have to give an account for now right now all of them are up under my covering but one day my son and my daughter are gonna have to face God on their own so I've got to help them to develop a discipline of prayer and a commitment to Jesus so I'm raising them up so when I'm not around they can get to God on their own I'm not playing games I'm not I'm not making God optional we're gonna pray in here you're gonna thank the Lord in here you're gonna pray over their food put that iPad down are we singing gospel song but daddy I want to hear this I want to watch that you not watching none of that we gonna get to Jesus because he's more important than all of this stuff here's the thing about Jesus he was in the wilderness had no signal to the outside world but he still had a prayer life you know why because prayer is portable [Applause] write it down I said prayer is portable you can pray anywhere you don't feel something right you surrounded by people you're in a public place all of a sudden the Holy Spirit rides up beating father I find that devil in the name of Jesus I don't know what's going on or what's about to go on but I find it right now send your angels in this place they shake headed at a base so now my mind y'all know their base she I come on out of here devil God cover my children you at the middle of your workday all of a sudden the Holy Ghost says pray for your kid's father cover my daughter wherever she is if she's talking to the wrong one get him out of there get that no-good so-and-so out of my daughter's life he does not have dominion and he cannot distract her from destiny Holy Ghost hit my child out of harm's way if you feel something pray it down if you feel like you've got an external power sword cause the Holy Ghost and it goes from external to internal and I need you to listen to the holy Pope [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I gotta move fast I feel the Holy Ghost in here one of the men of God over there just occurred who said preach right here when you put some bass in your voice it make me feel like I'm I'm on the right track first bar is prayer second bar is proximity proximity proximity you ever had a bad signal you know hello hello hello hello why did you yell the issue wasn't volume the issue is connection volume only matters if you're close just stand still you can't get to God he's got to come get you see the Bible says we all like sheep have gone astray sheep don't even know what they're doing just sitting out eating grass oh there goes some more grass there's some more grass there's some more grass before you know it the 99er over here you over here the wolf is right there just come close please just get close to the fence please oh please please you're not even looking something right here designed to kill you because we're sheep but I'm glad that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for the Sheep and he'll leave the ninety-nine and come get you before you kill yourself there's anybody grateful that God came to get you you didn't even notice they close so he had to go get you oh God thank you for coming to get us when we didn't even know to stay close is there anybody other than me that's grateful that God will snatch you from the jaws of death because you're too stupid to do it on your own you didn't see that the devil was trying to kill you so God loved you enough to snatch you from the jaws of death somebody same proximity bad company corrupts good character there's some people you to close to there's some people that don't have your heart there's some people that don't know your calling and then there's some that do know your calling and don't want you to get to it proximity matters who's close to you who's got your ear who's got your heart who's got your Allegiance be careful as the Holy Ghost for discernment show me who everybody is so if bad company corrupts good character then good good company enhances good character I need people around me that are praying too I don't need to be the only prayer warrior in my circle if you're the only prayer warrior in your circle that is a setup it's a setup because here's what happens the reason why Jesus often withdrew to lonely places is because nobody else could pour back into him if you're the only one pouring out you're the only one giving you're going to be left at a deficit and in a moment you're going to get bitter you're gonna resent your calling and the devil is gonna catch you off guard because without knowing you know giving stuff that you need it for yourself now you hungry oh I'm preaching [Applause] it's just really deep when the woman with the issue of blood she said I'm gonna touch the hem of His garment she touched him he said hey somebody just touched me I felt power go out of me she didn't ask permission there are people who pull on you and didn't even ask permission now you're at a deficit and if you don't go back to pray you're gonna be empty in that place there have been many Sundays I done left here empty and then resent and pastor ass waiting on her to fill me up but her last name is in Christ she can't sell what God was designed to sell and some of us are angry at people cuz they're not giving us what we think we need but people can't give you what you need only God only God can give you what you need I'm tired of being surrounded by carnal minded Christians who get angry when people don't give you what you want they can't give you what you want because God wants you to come to him for [Applause] somebody say proximity this is very important James sometimes your signals not strong but somebody else is so if your signal is low you need to get what else get with somebody else and borrow theirs write this down hotspot I'm just looking for a few hotspots in the church right now I do this from time to time I'm like I just need a couple prays there's one here one and y'all like you're just doing that to see who will shout no no no I'm looking for hot spots because there are some people that don't have strength and faith is contagious so if you got enough faith to worship and and and I'm near you it'll stir something in me it's a hot spot that's why coming to church matters that's why staying connected matters I just need one prays or you know every every few people I want to stir up some hot spots in here so the people that aren't strong to get some strength so if you got your own signal can you bless God so the people around you can [Music] where the hotspots it and when you have a hot spot you give them your access code so they can connect to your network until their network is strong and will stay connected to you until my praise is strong I'm just gonna borrow your [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] proximity hot spot if your network is down borrow somebody else's connection until you can re-establish your own if you read in John chapter 11 Jesus was talking with Mary and Martha about their brother and he said he's gonna get up and at one point Jesus said this he said father I thank you because you always hear me [Music] [Applause] translation father my signal strength is strong I never have network interruption I'm constantly connected to you every time I dial you answer so you need to write this down the reason why Jesus always got an answer when he called on the Father signal strength is directly proportional to relational investment signal strength is directly proportional to relational investment what that means is I spent so much time with you I don't even have to doubt a whole number you already know it's me I know that there are people who are real formal in their prayer father God Lord Jesus father of Heaven we bless you father because you father Oh Lord father are the only ones father and God I bless you Father and I thank you father and it sounds good it's very emotional and all of that but if I had a child and my son came to me and said dad I want to thank you dad because dad you brought me pizza dad and dad I want to thank you Dad for all the things that you do dad I'm like you and I know I'm your dad just say dad and then tell me what you need if you got to say my name 50 times maybe you don't think I'm your dad [Applause] proximity the more I invest time the stronger my signal is number three and we'll be done in a second number three after I'm close I better learn how to position my praise number three is praise you want your signal to go up praise that was actually an opportunity for you to do it so hold on oh no too late too late too late if you like hallelujah glory prayer proximity praise praise should be unconditional your praise comes from your assurance that you have a promise your praise doesn't come because you get a promise your praise comes because you know who the promise keeper is if I'm in the middle of the wilderness and I got a prayer life and I'm close then I'm praising because I know he's not gonna leave me in the wilderness he's gonna come get me or he's gonna give me directions to get out so my praise is it's non-negotiable that's why I praise in my car I praise at my house I praise at my job I praise anywhere and I'm not gonna let you stop me from praising and some people are uncomfortable with your praise and they think it's silly let them stay in bondage while you go to the next level number four to get your signal strength to optimum capacity remember your promise I praise before I get my promise because I know the promise is coming what is the promise the promise is you're going to be found because this is what Jesus does when people say I found Jesus no you didn't he found you he chose us in him before the foundation of the world you didn't choose him he chose you first you chose him second even when you guys say the first time he chose you first to choose him oh I'm just preaching scripture but here's the thing about a promise a promise comes with a price but here's the beauty of the promise this is why you praise because the price has already been paid the activation of your soul and the activation of your calling is a promise from the Holy Ghost the jesus said it's better that I go that the comforter can come the Holy Spirit is now activating you on the inside the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father it's the promise that Jesus is coming back and so when you have the Holy Ghost when you're in the wilderness when you come out that's when you can tell the devil it is written it is written it is written oh then and get behind me Satan prayer proximity praise promise prayer proximity praise say it again prayer proximity praise one more time prayer proximity praise VAL your heads close your eyes Lord Jesus thank you for this word today and I pray that you will allow us to be reminded that when we are in the wilderness if we want to restore connection if we want our bars to go up we need to be intentional about prayer proximity praise and promise thank you for your word today thank you that we are able to stay close to you and that no matter what the world says and what our circumstance says we are able to stay connected to you by the power of the blood in Jesus name [Music]

Channel: Relentless Church

Views: 40,375

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Id: 7IeYXnLHHwo

Length: 42min 23sec (2543 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 30 2019