The Hollow Place | Sarah Jakes Roberts

[Music] [Music] you here with us nudge the person beside you say I'm glad you here child I'm glad you here I'm glad you here I've been praying and I believe that God wants to do something special in here tonight and so I'm going to jump into the word I'm going to be speaking from judges 15 verse 18 can you guys pray for me I usually do Thursday nights and my best friend my husband our pastors here but he's away writing his book but he's watching online can we acknowledge be incredible gifts that is pastor to a baby I love you I miss you I don't know about you but I'm so glad that he started the potter's house at 1 la / 1 Church / Saints United ministry has this church radically blessed you can we just thank God for pastor Torian his yes and all that he's done to make us become better so I know he's praying and covering me I know you guys are praying and covering me so let's get in the word judges 15 verse 18 to set this up we're going to be talking about Samson and at this point in the text Samson has just defeated over a thousand Philistines and yet in spite of the fact that he has had this incredible victory it's going to be juxtaposed besides this moment in his life where he is thirsty and I love this text because it was just a reminder to me that no matter how victorious or how courageous you are we will all have moments where we are successful in one season and then thirsty in another season and verse 18 begins it says then he became very thirsty that he is Janson so he cried out to the Lord and said you have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised so God split the hollow place that is in Lehi and water came out and he drank and his spirit returned and he revived therefore he called its name in hock or which is in Lehi to this day and he judged Israel 20 years in the day of the Philistines spirit of the Living God we welcome you into this place God in this moment we surrender everything over to you and we say have your way God you know every soul you know every issue you know every problem represented in this room but most importantly you know every purpose you know our potential you know every anointing and so god I'm just asking that this would be a moment where we receive clarity where we receive focus where we receive vision God I want to prophesy that creativity is coming back God I want to prophesy that deliverance is going to take place in this room God I want to prophesy that depression is gonna have to leave that suicidal thoughts cannot stay God I want to put notice on darkness that you cannot stay here in this city any longer may the glory of the Lord arrives over the city of Los Angeles and they have that we didn't and we will say a hundred crazy radical Holy Ghost filled one churches came together [Music] amen amen you guys can get seated and get comfortable I was um reading and as I was reading I was thinking of this concept of like feeling their lives and I've heard people say this you know like I feel most alive when and I was just wondering like when do I feel most alive and so I looked up this article on Google because that's how I live my life to see when you're supposed to feel most alive and guys I don't know some of the things that were in this article made me realize that Google is really not the boss of me and it doesn't know anything they said that you should feel most alive when exercising first of all how I'm about to die how can I feel alive and dead at the same time because that's what I feel in my spirit then they said do something illegal to feel alive and I thought no that's not it either because I know me and I know prison and we don't go together I don't believe that I'm gonna feel alive there no get to know a stranger sounds like the beginning of the first 48 I don't feel alive ok um drive fast really fast or get angry and you know what I decided after reading that that GU who can't tell me when I feel most alive so I had to pray Google then pray Wow priorities as I was praying though I realize that I think I feel most alive when I feel Hollow which is odd because so much of what we do is meant to try and avoid those moments in life when we feel Hollow but yet there is something to this moment and guarantees that we all have moments where we feel hollow that I feel most alive i defined hollow as an acute awareness of the empty places in our life my subject is the hollow place the hollow place if we think about it when we get disappointed or angry or hurt that's just the display of the emotion but the root of that emotion is really this notion that whatever happened or whoever did something to us it ultimately left us feeling empty and so the emotion the anger the frustration allows us a distraction from really taking inventory of the place within us that has been left Hollow as a result of the heartbreak or the issue that created those emotions in the first place so much of our life has been on autopilot that is hard to not like feel like a robot but if we are still long enough we will identify areas in our life where we are Hollow and it's not a comfortable feeling and that's why a lot of us would rather numb that feeling and avoid that feeling than addressing that hollowness that emptiness because at the end of the day who wants to feel empty who wants to feel broken I'd rather feel like I have it all together I'd rather get up and go to work and put a smile on my face and come home and call my friends and distract myself and sign up for a thing after thing after thing because if I am by myself then I may have to see myself and I'm afraid of what I might see there are hollow places in me hollow places that begin when I was a teenager hollow places that begin after a divorce hollow places that begin with my family and our circumstance in the community that I was raised in none of us escaped life without hollow places and so the question then becomes if I cannot avoid these hollow places but I don't want to feel these hollow places what am I supposed to do and it is my belief that what we are supposed to do is learn to live in the hollow places because when we see in Scripture that his strength is made perfect in our weakness he's not talking about when we feel fool he's not talking about when we feel powerful he's not talking about when we feel talented he's talking about those moments when we feel Hollow and that's why I feel most alive when I am living in the hollow place because I recognize that that is when I am most dependent on God if I choose to be if I choose to be dependent on God that hollow place can be turned can become a hallowed place let's go so I was studying this text and I recognized that one of the reasons why I thought Samson was such an incredible person is because he's what I like to call a hollow warrior which means that he is great at external batteries at external battles he can wage war on the Philistines he can run up on anybody in any situation and come out victorious but ultimately what would be his demise was his hollow places which is a sign to me that we can be successful on the outside and we can be conquering on the outside but if we do not address our hollow places it will not be the circumstances outside that kill us but ultimately the hollow places we have not addressed inside of us that threaten all of our success that's why you can see successful people who are still not happy that's why you can see rich people who are still looking for drugs and drinks and things to fill them up because no matter you can do with your hands until God has a confrontation with your soul you can be successful and still be Hollow a hollow warrior Samson is a hollow warrior he's not afraid of what's outside of him he believes that he can overcome anything and so there comes this moment in his life where he is gonna have to choose your Chi you're going to have to choose the person you want to stand oh I have to tell you guys this okay listen listen stick with me I'm gonna bless you okay so I'm gonna I'm gonna say it the way I wrote it okay some of us would rather be there for someone else then for to have someone be there for us because we don't want them to know about our hollow places yeah okay or we only want to show the parts of ourselves that are full and sturdy so I'm gonna tell y'all something gangster my father told me change the way that I was looking after I went through my divorce and I was dating my father told me listen you're going to be looking to marry someone who stands beside you when you lower my casket into the ground what he said is ultimately you're going to be looking to do life with someone who knows how to deal with your hollow places yeah so when I'm in relationship with someone or a friendship with someone or I'm going to church somewhere ultimately I'm not looking for someone who makes me feel better about the places where I have it all together I'm hoping to find someone who can help me navigate these hollow places that are down on the inside of me because if you choose wisely then you will be connected with someone who leaves you more empty than you were before you even got connected with them and until we choose to acknowledge and become aware of our hollow places then our hollow places will make decisions on our behalf because they're dying to be seen God I gotta say that the way I studied it we have to have an awareness about the places in us that are still empty the social media culture would rather us highlight the places that are full in the places that are doing well on the inside of us and the things that we have accomplished and the battles that we have won and we can start to only look for victories in our life but I am Telling You you are most alive when you are searching for the hollow places inside of you and if you're here and you say I don't really have any hollow places then I want to cast that lying spirit out of you because at the end of the day all of us have a hollow place this is not a judgement this is a reality he that began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ what is he working on he's working on your hollow places I'm in church on a Thursday night at 8 o'clock because I've got hollow places I'm watching on YouTube because I got hollow places I'm worshiping because I got hollow places there's some emptiness down on the inside of me and if I'm not careful that emptiness will kill me I've seen that emptiness jump out and I was surprised at what that emptiness would accept that emptiness got into a relationship that emptiness got me a job and I didn't like the results of letting that hollow place take the lead and so now I have to get control of the hollow place because the hollow place is trying to be in control of me that emptiness is trying to define me that emptiness is trying to rush me that emptiness is trying to stroke my ego that emptiness is trying to make me settle for less than what I deserve that hollow place is screaming down on the inside and it keeps showing up why do I keep ending up in the same situation over and over there's a hollow place on the inside of me why can't I finally get that business why can't I finally take that leap of faith there's a hollow place I used to be confident and then something happened to me I used to believe that I could do it and then I didn't get that job or something fell apart and it left me hollow it didn't just leave me angry it didn't just make me upset it left me empty and now I believe this prophetically that life is making a demand not on your fullness not on your gifts and talents but it's making a demand on your hollow places and so we're studying this Texan Sampson our hollow warrior has come out of victory and there is nothing that will make you recognize your hollow places like victory it really seems counterintuitive because victory should underscore your talent victory should underscore your work but I don't know if you're like me there have been moments where I had victory and I came out of the victory and I was thirsty what does that mean I started wondering was I really that good I started wondering if I could produce again on that level sometimes we pray for success but what is more dangerous than success are the thoughts that come after success can I stay here can I keep producing on this level if you want to really be victorious you got to understand that you're hollow places are coming with you and that's why you got to have a word back to those hollow places and that word has to be I didn't get myself in this situation in the first place the Spirit of the Lord came upon me and he performed it just look like it was me so I may not be able to do it again that's but if the Spirit of the Lord would fall on me again I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me what are you going to pour back into those hollow places because those hollow places are coming they talk to you Samson learns that he's going to have to respect his thirst because it's not the enemy that he thought wow the enemy he thought could kill him was the Philistine but it's not the Philistines it's the thirst down on the inside of him that threatens his life it's easier for him to go into battle with someone else but the real enemy that he has to be cautious of is the thing that is down on the inside of him that makes him thirsty and what I love about this text and what I believe prophetically for us in this season is that God has this moment with Samson where ultimately he says you cannot have another victory you cannot accomplish anything else until you deal with that thirst that is down on the inside of you until you deal with that Hollow place that's down on the inside of you God has been blessing some of us on credit God has been showing us what he can do when he falls upon us and he has shown us I do have a promise for you I do have a purpose for you you are anointed you were not crazy and I have blessed you on credit but you cannot go any further than this until you and I have some reconciliation about those hollow places that are down on the inside of you not another fear not another insecurity not another addiction not another toxic relationship I blessed you but I'm not going to be able to keep on blessing you until we address these hollow places that's really good that's really good that's really good and I know you're not clapping because you're not supposed to clap like that but it's something about God saying I can't take you any further than this because if I take you any further than this that thirst is going to kill you and so God said I'm going to give Sarah Jakes Roberts a word and I'm gonna drag you into church you didn't even feel like being here couldn't even worship all the way and you know what that's because that hollow placing you are going to war tonight that hollow placing you are now going to have a conversation it's time for me to start filling you for real you're not burnt out you haven't lost your passion it's just time for that hollow place to have a conversation with God I can't take you any further than this stop praying for another blessing stop praying for another check and start asking God to show me show me this emptiness show me my hollow places I can't I can't give you nothing else like this I can't bless you anymore like this not like this I can't do it God has plans for Samson to rule but he cannot allow him to rule until he deals with that emptiness that's down on the inside of him and I love this text because Samson recognizes that his thirst is going to kill him and instead of doing what so many of us do he didn't call out for somebody to bring him water he didn't go running off looking for a brook and said he cries out to the Lord you see you call on man when you think you still have man's eye you call a man when you think that man could be the answer to your subproblems but there comes a point in our life when we recognize that this thing that I need I can't depend on anyone else to do this thing that I need I don't need a hookup I don't need another follow I don't need to go to another business mixer I don't need another luncheon I don't need another agent I don't need no one else to do this thing coz this thirst I got man can't quit this thirst I have can only come from God there's a emptiness that's down on the inside of me and that thing that's trying to take me out that thing is trying to make me think that I'm crazy that thing is trying to make me believe that suicide is the only option drinking is for people who still have options drugs are for people who still think there's another way but there comes a point in your life where you say we can't take this sex game alcohol cannot touch this I tried on the bed and I still ended up empty I need something that can only come from heaven I need a whale that springs up on the inside of me because I'm tired of being empty cuz I'm tired I'm tired of being empty I'm tired of being a hollow warrior or I look strong to everyone else but I'm empty inside of me and I need the kind of strength that you don't just stumble into this is the kind of strength that you can only surrender your way into I [Music] believe we're in revival that God wants to revive those empty places because you did not come into this world empty when God formed you in your mother's womb you were full when God formed you in your mother's womb you were home when God formed you in your mother's womb you were complete I know that life got ahold of you and it broke you I know that life got ahold of you and strip something out of you but when we talk about revival we talk about reviving that version of us that God formed in his mother's womb and I don't know about you but the enemy has last round playing with my mind I don't know about you but depression has had its last round playing into my house I don't know about you but I'm tired of feeling empty when God has called me to exceedingly and abundantly had no age war oh inhale I came to let somebody know in this ways that your holidays are over that God has something that he wants to do on the inside of you and he does not want that cute version of who you are God wants that empty I wonder hollow places says God I want your brokenness and no one hurts you but I can handle that [Music] [Music] yeah Samson learned I'm gonna have to respect these hollow places if you've ever had your hollow place turn on you and get you into some things that you know you shouldn't be in you learn to respect your hollow places because these hollow places make me make decisions that I don't make when I'm standing at one la these hollow places make me make decisions that I would never make if I was really connected to God but before I can make a decision the hollow place makes a decision and now I'm stuck in my heart is in chuan but I came here to tell you that God is a restorer that God has redemption available to you I came here to let you know that recovery is possible that restoration is still available I don't know what you have been taught do not care because he is a chain breaker baby because he will put stroke we may sit on your [Music] yeah can I tell you what happened [Applause] so Sampson Sansom cries out to the Lord from its hollow place Samson says I'm thirsty and this thirst is about to kill me and God could have immediately quenched his thirst but God doesn't quench his thirst what God does instead I'm gonna read the text it says God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so we have a hollow Samson sitting on the hollow place in the earth god help me say it the way I studied it so God says I hear about your hollow place but let me tell you what I can do with my hollow place the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof so how low and hallow are about to have a showdown can you put my slide on the screen for me because I want to make sure you recognize the difference between the two words how low and hallow are about to have a showdown how low means empty hallow means holy hallowed be your name your emptiness and his holiness want to have a confrontation your emptiness and his holiness have a confrontation and so when Samson's emptiness and God's holiness has a confrontation God says listen I know that you're thirsty and I know that this thirst is about to kill you and I know you're living from this hollow place but what I do with hollow places is I make water spring up and if you would surrender to me then I can take your hollow place and turn it into a hallow place got ya when Samson cries out to God about his hollow place God says listen you and I can have a divine exchange but it's going to require some work on your end God takes the area that was Hollow and brings water forth but it would be on Samson to actually drink from that place for him to be filled and the place where he was empty because God is not going to do all of the work for you because you got to be in partnership with him and so my text says that God split the hollow place that is in Lehi and water came out and Samson drank and when Samson drank from that hollow place that became a hallowed place his spirit returned and he revived I said it feels like revival in this place what am I saying I'm saying that if you can dig down in that hollow place down on the inside of you that it will be the most powerful place in your life because it will be the place where God says I'm gonna let a wellspring up from your hollow place I know that place where you felt insecure is bugging you I know that you've learned to live like that hollow place doesn't exist but if you keep living like that hollow place doesn't exist then I can't show you how I take Hollow and turn it into hell I can't show you how I can take your emptiness and turn it into holiness I can't show you how all things work together for your good I can't show you how your marriage is connected to that high-low place I can't show you how your business is connected to that high-low place you want me to bless the place where you feel confident I'm not interested in that you already bless that by yourself I want to bless the place where you feel hollow I want a place to bless the place where you feel insecure I wanna bless the place that the enemy keeps hiding you and taunting you about and Sam semester on and gave the Lord access and I want to know if there are just one or two people in this way who don't mind saying I got a hollow place and I need to make it I'm ready to have a showdown with God I'm ready to have a show whatever you want out on the inside of me Loree them so up in my life I just want to know who this message is for can you give me a minute Brutus not for me but like the glory of the Lord is in the room like God wants to know if there's any hollow places that need to turn hallowed there was something about the way that Sampson cried out to the Lord that made God strike a rock open and let water come out I need to hear some thirsty people I know we don't celebrate thirsty people in culture but I'm willing to admit I'm thirsty there are some dry places down on the inside of me and if God doesn't spring up a well then I might die thirsty but if he would spring up a well then rivers of living water would start flowing from the inside of me [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] there's some things only you can do there are some breakthroughs that only your mouth can access and so really what God does when we allow him access to the hollow the empty places on the inside of us as his Holy Spirit makes up the difference and so when I cry out to the Lord from my hollow place I do it because ultimately I need to be filled and sometimes before we can be filled we gotta purge what we allowed to fill up that empty place in the first place god I want to ask that wherever there is an empty place and a substitute that leaves us more empty than we were before God that you would remove that substitute right now in the name of Jesus that that temporary filling of being full and then hurting a week later or hurting the moment the action is done god I want to break that cycle I feel the presence of God in this place God I want to break that cycle of being full for just a minute and then going back to the empty all over again Satan I rebuke you right now in the name of Jesus my god is a chain breaker my god is a miracle worker my God makes all things new and I feel like God wants to do a new thing in this place God I want you to break every pattern God I want you to bring every system God I want to break every routine that keeps us in the same cycle after cycle after cycle after cycle and I wanna drop the cycle for every empty place if you have an intermediate result sure if you have an empty place I tell you to have a confrontation but if you're ready forgot to move in your life like never before yeah spirit of spirit of the Living God we need a touch that can only come from heaven god I need to be full of your spirit God I see people they've been full of pride they've been full of ego they've been full of all of these other things but God God now more than ever I want to be full of your spirit because when I'm full of your spirit it makes up the difference I don't feel insecure when I'm full of your spirit I don't feel like I can't make it when I'm full of your spirit suicide can't touch me when I'm full of your spirit God I don't need a drink when I'm full of your spirit God out on me to sleep my way through it when I'm full of your spirit God I need a touch to my empty places I love this because the place where Samson's emptiness and God's holiness collided Samson marked the spot and he called that spot in her core which is the spring of the one calling it is the place where God created a spring because I called out to him and I believe that God wants you to mark this spot that God wants to give you permission some of you have not had permission to feel empty God ever because you had to be strong for your mom and you had to be the man of the house and you had to pretend like you had it all together and you had to pretend like you didn't hurt you but the truth is that you have some places in you where you're empty and that's not a judgment it's the truth I'm talking about what I know I know what it's like to go 10 15 years and wake up one day and realize man I think I'm empty right there but I also know what it's like to surrender and say god I don't want to pretend like I'm not empty God I want to be fully alive in the same because when I'm fully alive in this emptiness and need you and when I'm hungry for you it doesn't hurt me the way that I did and when I'm hungry for you I feel stronger than I ever did before and so god I need you to take my hollow place and turn it into hallow ground and I love this because when we see that God can take our hollow places and turn it into hallowed ground then everything we touch becomes hallowed ground why is it important that we get our lives together because there is a hollow place in this earth that has your name on it and you cannot affect it in the empty version of who you are you need the Holy Ghost to break that stronghold in the industry you need the Holy Ghost to break that generational curse and the Holy Ghost has to touch down in you before it can touch them on behalf of you when God sees that you can he can touch your hollow places he can show you the hollow places in the earth that has your name on it you are talented you do have a gift and there are some things that we have to work out there is some brokenness there is some emptiness that's okay His grace is sufficient for that but you can't afford to ignore it any longer and we can't afford to allow it to make decisions on our behalf any longer I'm tired of my loneliness picking my relationships I'm tired of my daddy issues showing up and how I pursued the attention I'm I'm tired of these empty places taking control of my life and so I want to have a moment at this altar and the first thing before we pray or anything is I want to give you a moment to have an intimate encounter with your Savior where you can say to God God ouch well you can finally let the tears roll down your face where you can finally confront the fact that that thing really hurt and it doesn't have to be loud unless that's your style and it doesn't have to be wild and unless that's your style and if it is realize that you move to the side of the room but it just has to be real and it doesn't have to be this fancy prayer thing it can be you simply saying God God I feel like I came into this world with the deficit God I feel like everyone had it all together but me and it created a hollow place down on the inside of me but I'm ready to see that hollow place come to holiness where that hollow place is now a spring where you give me revelation about where I was empty where you show me that even in the midst of my pain and my heartbreak that you were still there picking up the pieces so that when I came to this place you would still have something to give me I guess that's all I'm really saying is that you felt like it was empty but God was just holding the best of you on reserve and God wants to give you what he thought of you in those moments I hear God's saying I thought you're wonderful I think you're beautiful I think you're talented I hear God saying the words your parents could never say I hear you God's saying that I know your sibling said some things I know your boss said some things but I have a word that is stronger and more powerful than any of those words those words are that your fearfully and wonderfully made those words are that no weapon formed against you as prospered those words are that the rape couldn't hurt you the molestation couldn't break you the abandonment didn't change you that I still have a work that I want to do on the inside of you and I think you're beautiful just as you are so I'm gonna give you a minute to worship in your own way and to welcome God in your own way there's a point in the text and the Bible it says take off your shoes for your now standing on hallowed ground take off your shoes take off of the things that led you into this moment and step into the holiness of this moment Heavenly Father your presence is the purest thing we've ever experienced God your love is the greatest love of all time and God there have been some circumstances and some experiences that are represented at this altar that have threatened to change who we are at our core but God we have made a decision to cry out to you and to say God I don't want to die of thirst I don't want to die still meeting affection I don't want to die still needing affirmation I don't want to allow my insecurities to be the death of me God I want to be whole for real I want to be confident for real I want to believe in this gift you gave me for real so Heavenly Father I'm asking for an authentic encounter of your glory God I'm asking that wherever there is a heart open wherever there is a hollow place represented that this spirit of the Living God would fall on that place right now in the name of Jesus somebody's thinking about something that happened 10 years ago I'm so glad that you were still God in that moment you are the god of yesterday you are the god of and you are the god of our tomorrow that means that when you say all things work together you know exactly what you're talking about because you've already designed a way for this hollow place to become hallowed so God we surrender right now in the name of Jesus and we say have your way o great Savior that you are we as only you can do since you want to break strongholds in this room saying I rebuke you darkness you black circle I rebuke it right now in the you gotta let go with my daughter and I plead the blood of Jesus is shaking them of the blood of Jesus that makes up the difference the blood of Jesus that went ahead of us that made our crooked path straights the blood of Jesus that says I've already gotten ahead of you I've already got that covered I bleed the blood of Jesus over every broken place right now in the name of Jesus over every hollow place Jesus show us how to face death and come back resurrected God show us how to resurrect that part of us that was once dead and so God acts that you what sealed this word and the hearts of these your sons and daughters and that nothing would uprooted repeat after me Heavenly Father thank you for Jesus thank you for making him who had no sin all of my weakness all of my limitations and every hollow place God please forgive me for believing that the hollow place would define me I rebuke it in the name of Jesus and I surrender to your anointing and to your spirit fill me O God and every empty place to the overflow that I may become a monument of your grace and your glory renew my mind renew my spirit and turn every hollow place into a holy place in Jesus name Amen can you celebrate with me can you celebrate like you're never going back to that hollow place and that when that hollow place shows that that you would demand it will become a hallowed place even if worship you got to start playing your worship music you got to start feeding that hollow place with the Spirit of God you fed it everything else you might as well start feeding it with some things that fill you and that could never run dry I dare you to start worshipping the next time you feel empty I dare you to start pleading the blood of Jesus over your own mind when that emptiness tries to make you feel insecure now one more time I want you to praise God for the hollow place that is becoming a hollow place because when we step into our transformation it grants God authority to allow him to show us the place in the earth where we have been assigned to go from Hollow to hallowed and there is a territory with your name on it and God wants to see you mark the spot okay let's think God just one more time and then we're going to hear the sound [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: ONE | A Potter's House Church

Views: 240,035

Rating: 4.9075208 out of 5

Keywords: LA Churches, TPH, The Potters House, TPH LA, The Potters House LA, One LA, Toure Roberts, Sarah Jakes Roberts

Id: X4thOwfktCE

Length: 49min 49sec (2989 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 11 2019