Bethel Church Service | Dave Ward Sermon | Worship with Emmy Rose, Kory Miller, Leah Valenzuela

online community. We're so happy to be with you this Sunday evening. >> Yeah, it's amazing. I love being in the house of God. Sunday evenings are my favorite favorite time, especially since uh you know, our Sunday mornings are a little more structured because we have four of them. >> Totally. >> So, we have to get people in and out of the building quick. >> But Sunday nights are a place where we don't have a clock. >> True.

So, >> we have a little bit of a clock. >> A little bit. >> Yeah. But a little bit more flexibility. >> Exactly. So, we love to really make space for the Holy Spirit on Sunday nights. So, I'm glad you're here. We're >> happy. We're so happy you're here.

I know some of you are tuning in. It's Sunday night. Some of you, it's uh Monday morning, wherever you are, or you're watching this back. And we're just so happy you get to be with us tonight. We're actually going to be um baptizing a a number of people who are ready to get water baptized.

Water baptism. Water baptisms are like my favorite thing watching people go into the water and actually be raised to life. Like there's I don't know if there's anything better. >> It's incredible. Um I think you know a lot of people see water baptism as just a symbolic act. >> I actually believe it's a deeply deeply spiritual act.

Um when Jesus was baptized it says the heavens were opened >> and a voice came from the father that said this is my beloved son. And we have seen countless actually miracles happen in the baptism tank. I know there's a lot of even uh testimonies going around online about when people are baptized, they experience something very supernatural and profound.

Mhm. >> So when you're in the audience and you're watching as we baptize tonight, I want you just to be coming into agreement with heaven that >> they their old man would be dead in that tank and they would be raised to life a new >> to live in the fullness of everything Christ paid for.

So it's a special moment for us. I love engaging with the Holy Spirit, praying for people when they get dunked in the tank. So I would just encourage you. It's a part of our worship expression tonight on >> Absolutely. It feels so exciting, too. And it feels really uh I think it feels really significant.

Um Richard Gordon brought a word this morning about the river and being in the river and he was talking about Jesus's own baptism and the significance of him going in the water and the heavens opening. And tonight we're we're baptizing many who >> Gosh, we're believing that the Lord will touch them in such a mighty way as they come out of that water.

And what was this morning like for you? I mean, Richard's message was so incredible. >> So powerful. Yeah. I really encourage you if you haven't seen it yet to go and watch Richie. Very powerful and um direct word speaking to us as a congregation and as a a house moving through this season.

And something that really that I stuck with me that I walked away with was he he referenced something one of his students gave a revelation to of that God is drawn to the proud but he opposes the humble. And I love what he said. He said it doesn't say uh God with God is drawn to the humble and he opposes the proud.

It doesn't say he withdraws from the proud. It says he opposes the proud. And to oppose someone, you need to get in their face and oppose them. >> And I think sometimes the temptation, you know, going through a hard season or going through a season of of correction and change is to think that God distances himself.

And just personally, I have felt the pursuit and the drawing near of the father. And it's been so encouraging in this season >> feeling the closeness closeness and the nearness of the father. >> So good. >> I always think about um it's his nature to pursue us. >> Yeah. >> I think about in Adam when Adam and Eve fell, you know, that to me was the dark point of humanity where they had been given over to sin.

They're hiding in the garden. They've been given no promise, no redemption. No, that is like at to me humanity's most fallen state. >> And what does the father do? >> He comes and he calls and he pursues. Adam, where are you? And I I just felt so encouraged this morning that God is in pursuit of us.

He is drawing near. He is drawing near to There's nothing that can stop you, stop the father from drawing near to you. Even it says, you know, because God so loved the world that he sent Jesus. He is a sending pursuing father. So even if you need encouragement right now, maybe you're walking through something and I I just want you to know that God is a pursuer and he is drawing near to you.

Uh even if you are dealing with pride, if you are dealing with your own stuff, I want you to know God is so available to draw near to you tonight and forever more. >> So good. I think there's um something so beautiful about how the Lord draws near to us.

Um I remember reading in James, as we draw near to him, he draws near to us. And there's this um this longing I think from the Lord. He wants to be near to his people and near to his kids. and and he wants to to give us access and as we draw near, he just comes so close.

And um wherever you are, whatever you're walking through, um we just pray that you would experience the nearness of the Lord. That tonight, even when we're in worship, when we're watching people get baptized, when we're hearing um a powerful word of the Lord, that you would experience the nearness of the Lord.

That you would experience his presence. you would experience that drawing close, not a distancing, not a not a a distant God, but actually one who's alive, one who is um always pursuing us, one who longs for relationship. And so, we just pray um wherever you are that you would experience the nearness of the Lord tonight.

Jill, do you want to pray? >> Would love to pray. >> And uh just want to say Brian, thank you for that word. You are spot on, my friend. I love that. Um, we just are so grateful for our community, our online community. You guys are just so incredible and uh you minister to us just as much as we minister to you.

So, we're so thankful. And >> you know, God I just want to remind everyone God Jesus is on the throne >> and our faith and our hope and our trust can always be in him no matter what what you're walking through. And so, Holy Spirit, I I lift everyone uh who's watching, who will watch back.

Uh I lift them up to you, Father. And I thank you that you are God who pursues. You are the God of breakthrough. You are the God of justice. You're also the God of mercy. And that you always make a way. And I release Lord a spirit of wisdom and revelation over everyone that we would be brought into the knowledge of you Jesus that would release >> unspeakable peace uh abounding joy and that would release uh impossible hope into every one of our hearts God that we would see you clearly and the more clearer we see you the clearer we see the world around us.

I pray also tonight, God, that there would be a touch of your power. That people on this call needing a miracle in their body, needing a miracle in their family, that know someone who they're they're praying for for salvation. I pray tonight would be a night of breakthrough in Jesus' name.

I declare over everyone watching today that by the stripes of Jesus, you are healed. And I ask Holy Spirit that you would move across every room tonight, every car, every headphone that's tuning in and you your power to heal would be released over their bodies. >> Yeah. >> In Jesus name. >> Amen. >> A amen.

Guys, we um we pray that you would meet with the Lord that this would be a beautiful time in worship. We have um Emmy Rose leading us, Corey Miller, uh Leah Valenuela. We're so excited and Dave Ward's going to bring a powerful word. So, um, we'll be with you after the service.

We bless you. We pray that you would experience him in just a radical way. We love you guys. >> Love you guys. >> Guys, good. No, you're good. You're good. Hello. Hello. Hello, everybody. Hey, let's stand up together all over the room >> as all these amazing people get off stage. >> So good.

We just got done praying. How's everyone feeling tonight? You guys feeling okay? So good. The Lord is in the building. We are excited. We'll give you just a second. How many really quickly? I know we have a lot of them here. How many Germans do we have in the building?

Just just Germans everywhere. Everywhere. Danes, we have Danes in the building, too. Not as many, but as loud. I like that. I like that. Americans. Do we have Americans here? Americans, I'm so glad we all get along. We all get along. It's so good cuz if we if we didn't get along, you guys would be in trouble.

Somebody else would be in trouble. No, it's so good. And then how listen, we're just little family moment. I know if you're watching online, welcome. Uh how many of you are watching the Olympics right now? The Olympics. So I I've been watching the Olympics with my family. Here's what I noticed. things I noticed.

Germans, you guys, you guys go down ice amazingly well on your stomachs, on your back, in a sled, it doesn't matter. It's amazing. It's amazing. Danes, I don't know what you I don't know what you guys do well, but some skis something. You do something well. And Americans, I don't know if you know this, but uh we can curl with the best of them.

We're we're curling champions, I think, which is uh which is incredible. Well, listen, we're not here for that. We're here for the Lord. Yes. >> Here for the Lord. So, I don't know if you know this, but God is in the building. He's really excited about tonight, right?

I walked in here today with this with this uh scripture of mine. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste and see that the Lord is good. And so, we're going to actually taste of him tonight. You guys with me on that? This amazing team's going to lead us and pray for them as they go.

Uh little little secret uh just for you guys. uh they had a few monitor issues uh beforehand where they can't they don't hear and the way the stage set up if they don't hear we're going to find out how much the Holy Spirit is really there if uh if they can't if they can't hear tonight we're going to work this out.

Uh why don't you do this before we start in worship find someone you do not know which uh is should be half of this building and then engage say hello. Connect welcome them. Love them just for a minute and then we're going to get into worship in just a couple minutes.

Come on, man. Come on. Come on. Come on. See, there is a sound. There is a sound I love to hear. It's the sound of the Savior's robe as he walks into the room where people pray. Where we hear praises, he hears face. Wake us up to sing.

There is a sound I love to hear. It's the sound of the Savior's rope as he walks into the room where people pray, where we hear worship. He faith. He faith. Awake my soul and sing his praise aloud. Sing his praise aloud. Oh wake my soul and sing his praise aloud.

Sing his praise loud. Oh, awake my soul to There is a sound that changes things. the sound of his people on their knees. Awake up you. It's time to worship him. Awake my soul and sing. Sing his praise aloud. Sing his praise now. Oh, my soul will sing.

Sing his praise. Sing his praise aloud. Sing it out. And where? And when we pray, whisper wall now stands away. Every pro. Oh, make no mistake. The B of hell begin to shake. Oh, hail the Lord. Oh, hell the king. Oh hey. Oh let the king enter. Hey fall down on your knees and worship him.

Hey praise my soul. Don't hold me. Awake my soul and sing. Sing his praise aloud. Sing his praise aloud. Come on church, sing it out. Awake my soul and sing. Sing his praise. Sing his praise. Awake. Awake. Awake my soul to praise again. Awake my soul. Wake my soul before he comes.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Oh, hell. The king fall down and worship my don't hold it. Wake my soul and sing. Sing his praise. Sing his praise aloud. He loves to hearing. Awake my soul. Sing his praise alone. Sing his praise aloud. Oh yes. Oh, lift your voice. He loves to hear it.

He loves to hear it. Oh, my soul li sing his praise alone. Sing his praise aloud. Awake up. Oh, my soul is singing. Sing his praise alone. Sing his praise aloud. Oh. Oh, Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Baby begin to Hey, fall down on your knees and worship him.

Let his praise don't wake my soul and sing. Sing his praise. Sing his praise aloud. Oh, awake my soul lives. Sing his praise aloud. Sing his praise aloud. Yes. Yes. Yes. Come on. Let's give the Lord a shout of praise. Come on, let's erupt with praise and adoration to our King of Kings.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, God, for awakening our souls, God, that we want to burn for you and you alone all the days of our lives in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Wow, it is packed in here. Wow. There I heard there's a bunch of uh hungry Germans in the room.

Is that right? Okay. Amazing. Well, we actually this is baptism Sunday. So, if you would just have a seat where you're at, if you can, if you can try to find a seat there on the front, guys, we have eight amazing, amazing revivalists that are getting uh baptized tonight.

We've been in a class before service talking about the importance of baptism, going over scripture, and each one of them have now received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And now they're ready to make this public declaration of their devotion to Christ. And so they're over here on the side.

So if you're getting baptized, would you guys wave your hands? And guys, do you see them? Wildly celebrate them tonight. Come on. I want you to just celebrate their decision tonight. Come on. Yes, each one of them they're incredible that as they're going under the water that their old sin nature is dead, gone and buried.

They come up out of the water. They are a new creation. How many of you have been baptized before? You remember it, right? So, so good. If you're actually in the room, um actually, you know what I want us to do? I want us to extend our hands to them and I just want us to pray.

I want you to just pray out loud for them as they're making this decision. Jesus, I thank you, God, that the old has gone and the new has passed. I want you to just pray out loud where you are in your seats. If you're watching online, we thank you, Jesus.

We thank you, God, for new life. We celebrate what you're doing in each one of these amazing world changers, God. and they would they would change the world around them, their families, marriages, friends that God, I just thank you, Father, that you'd use them mightily for your name, for your kingdom in Jesus name.

Amen. Amen. Awesome. If you are in the room or you're watching online and you have never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I have really good news for you, man. We just celebrated Valentine's Day and I was thinking about and I love Valentine's Day. I love love love.

But I was thinking about the greatest love is Jesus. And actually John 3:16, we all many of us know this verse. But for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that it was always his plan, always his design for connection with us, for us to be family.

And Jesus was fully God, fully man, died on the cross, his body broken, his blood shed, and took all of our sin upon himself so that we wouldn't have to. We couldn't do it. Only he could. But then three days later, he rose again. He conquered sin and death.

Come on. >> Yes. And now we have life and freedom and healing through Jesus for all that put their faith and their trust in him. And maybe you're watching online or maybe you're in the room and you've just felt hopeless. Maybe you've actually like you're you've been going through addictions in your life.

Maybe you have your life fully together, but you feel like something's missing. What's missing is a savior and his name is Jesus. And he his love is the greatest that you'll ever the world can't give that to you. Only he can. His love is greater than any other love that you could ever think or ask or imagine.

So if that's you tonight and you're like, man, I actually really want to receive Jesus. We would love to pray with you. We have incredible team. Can you raise your hand if you're over there? Yes. They would love to pray with you tonight to receive Jesus. If you're watching online, just put in the chat, I need Jesus.

And if you also have never been baptized tonight, we have an incredible team that'd love to pray with you to see if tonight's the right decision. We have clothes that you can change into and towels. And um I'd like the rest of us to just stand up. We're doing some aerobics tonight.

It's awesome. Can you just put your hand on the person to your left and to your right? And Jesus, I pray for each one of us right now. I pray for a fresh baptism of your love. God, as we are witnessing just an incredible expression tonight of celebration that Jesus, you can have our full lives.

Here we are with the celebration of baptism. God, I pray that you would touch our lives in this room and those watching online a fresh baptism of your love right now. I want you to pray for that person to your left and to your right. Thank you, Jesus.

Father, that we would we would be sold out fully burning on fire for you and you alone, Jesus. You at the center of everything that we do and say, God, we thank you, Jesus. We thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your faithfulness. and we love you, Jesus.

We love you. Thank you, Father. Fill aresh God. Anyone that's been feeling anxiety, anyone that has been um feeling heavy or under it, God, I pray you lift. You are the lifter of our head. So, God, I just pray right now that you lift off any heaviness. Woo.

And I thank you, God, for just your love to just saturate minds, body, soul, and spirit. Thank you, Jesus. Worship team, you guys can go ahead and come on up. So we thank you God for your great love for us. Thank you God. And we all say together.

Amen. Amen. Let's continue to worship the Lord together. Continue to exalt him tonight. And let's celebrate with these eight amazing ones that are getting baptized. Amen. I cast my mind to Calary where Jesus bled and died for me. I see his wounds, his hands, his feet, my savior on that cursed tree.

His body bound and drenched in tears. They laid him down in Jose. The entrance sealed by heavy stone still and all. And oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise his name forever more. Forever days we will sing your praise. Oh Lord, oh Lord our God.

And on the third I break of dawn. The son of heaven and rose again. Oh treble day where the angels roar for Christ the king. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Praise the Lord our God. Just let it out. Oh, let out your praise. Oh, let out your praise.

Thank you. He shall return in rose of white. The blazing sun shall pierce the night and I will rise among the saints. My gaze transfixed on Jesus face. He shall return in rose of white. The blazing sun shall pierce the night. And I will rise among the saints.

My gaze is fixed on Jesus. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. See Oh, he is the lamb Yeah. Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise his name forever. For endless days we will sing your praise. >> Oh Lord, oh Lord our God. >> One more time.

Oh, praise the Lord our praise forever. We sing your praise. Oh Lord our God. Oh Lord. Oh Lord our God. Oh Lord. Oh Lord our God. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Holy Spirit. is the lamb. Worthy is the world. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy trust in Jesus name. See, my hope is built. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but holy trust in Jesus name. Sing in Christ. In Christ the cornerstone the weak made strong in the Savior's love.

Oh through the soul. He is Lord. He's Lord of all. When darkness seems to hide his face. Oh, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds. My anchor holds within the veil. Oh yeah. My anchor holds within Christ in the sior.

He is Lord. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Thank you, Lord. when he shall come with trumpet sound. >> Oh, may I then in him be found in his righteousness, Lord. I stand before your throne. Oh, sing it again when he shall come. When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh may I then in him be found.

Dressed in your rightuousness alone. For this I stand before your throne. Oh, I stand before you fall in Christ alone overcome. In your mercy, we're standing in your gra. Oh, you're the firm foundation. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. You are Lord.

You are Lord. In Christ alone, cornerstone, the weak man in the Savior's through the He's Lord. Thank you, Lord. Your firm foundation in Christ alone. Cornerstone, the weak made strong in the Savior's love through the storm. He is Lord. He's Lord of all. Yes, you are. Yes, you are.

Yes, you are. Yes, you are. You are Lord of all. You are Lord. Yes, you are. You are still on the throne. You are Lord of all. You are Lord every situation you are Lord. You are Lord. Oh ruling and reigning. You are Lord of all, eternal, unchanging Lord of all.

The living God. You are Lord of all. I lift your voicees. He is Lord. He tells the Lord. He is Lord. Oh, my God. He is beginning and the end. He is he is in Christ strong the weak made strong through the stor. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Yeah. Heat. And he shall reign for ever and ever. And he shall reign forever and ever. He's the Lord of all. when he shall reign forever and ever. Over it all you reign. And he shall reign forever and ever. We trust you. We trust you. We put our hope in you, Jesus.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Maybe We made this complicated more than it was ever meant to be. Hasn't it always been about the same thing. Lord, bring us back to simple things. For you are the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my savior. All in all, you're the one I hold on to.

For the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say. Jesus, I love you, Lord. Teach us to discern the moment when to serve and when to sit here at your feet. keep us awake to what's important. Just like Mary, she chose the better thing. Lord, for you are the sins of it all.

My heart belongs to you, my savior of it all. You're the one I hold on to for the beauty of your name. My soul will live to say, Jesus, I for you are the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my savior. All in all, you're the one I hold on to.

For the beauty of your name, my soul will live to see. Jesus, I love you, oh God. You really do, Lord. Jesus, I love you. Oh, come you. I'll come you, Jesus. I love you. My whole life for your glory. my whole world for you owe me everything for the honor of your name.

And if my days tell a story, let it be. I'll give everything for the honor of your name. My whole life for your glory. My whole world for you all every day for the honor of your name. My name for the honor of your name. Heat. Heat. Yeah.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Oh, heat, heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. for the birthday and only your name and my whole life for your glory. my whole world. Oh, you only >> and if my days >> Yes, Lord. Love you all. >> For theor of your name and my whole life, my whole world for your face, for the honor of your name.

And if my days tell a story, let it be. You all >> only for you. We give our whole lives. >> We give our whole lives. Give it all. We give it all to you, Lord. Give it all. We give it all to you, Lord. To you. We give it all to you.

In the safest, we give it all to you. I feel your love. Chasing us down. You're chasing us down. You're chasing us down tonight. You are the end of all lives. You worthy of our whole lives. >> You worthy of our whole lives. >> Worthy is your name, Jesus.

You deserve the praise. Worthy is your name. Worthy is your name, Jesus. You deserve the praise. Worthy is your name. So worthy is your name, Jesus. Oh, you deserve my praise. So worthy is your name. Worthy is your name, Jesus. Oh, you deserve my praise. Worthy is your name.

Worthy is your name, Jesus. You deserve my heart's praise. Worthy is your name. Worthy is your name Jesus. You deserve the praise. Is your name is your name Jesus. Heat. Heat. Jesus, you Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Lord is your Lord is your Yes. N might Praise. Jesus is the praise.

Worthy is your name. Worthy is your name. Jesus. You deserve the praise. Jesus, you praise your name. If you wouldn't mind standing, I just want to read something over you. This is in Romans 8. For we were saved in this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope.

For why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise, the spirit also helps us in our weakness. Thank you, God. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. All things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose.

Later in verse 34, it also describes that Jesus Christ is also making intercession for us. And this to me might be one of the greatest realities that scripture points out that Jesus, the resurrected son of God, the alpha and omega, the one who was and will be fully God, fully man, is seated at the right hand of God, making intercession for you and for me.

And at that same time, the Holy Spirit, the one brooding over the waters, the one that reveals the strength and glory of God that lives in you, is at the same time making intercession for you and for me. I don't know about you, but that blows my mind.

And I believe I sense this this leaning in from heaven over us tonight that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are making intercession. And how many of you would believe that the father wants to answer their prayers? In fact, I would say the father will answer their prayers. And I had this this picture of the angelic taking the incense from heaven that Jesus and the Holy Spirit have been praying over us and pouring it over each one of your heads.

So if you wouldn't mind standing, I've asked the worship team if they can just begin to minister over you. And I want you just to take a few moments to become aware of that reality that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are interceding for you right now. And I want you to take a few minutes and let as the the band plays over you.

Let the Holy Spirit begin to pour out his prayers, his love, his intercession that he takes what is Jesus and reveals it to us. and begin begin. If you need hope, if you need safety, if you need fire, if you need joy, whatever it is you need right now, the Jesus and the Holy Spirit are interceding for the will of God for your life.

So, I want you just to begin to open up your hands, open up your hearts, just become to become aware of the Holy Spirit living in you. I just welcome you, Holy Spirit. Come and have your way. I welcome the angels on assignment over each one in this room.

Everyone watching online, ministers of wind and fire, I welcome you in Jesus name. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat up Heat. Heat. She You can grab a hand of the person next to you or put your hand on his shoulder.

Just begin to bless your neighbor. Begin to pray over them as you would want to be prayed over you. Father, would you overtake them with your mercy and your grace and your goodness? I pray over my neighbor, let it be an Ephesians 3:20 season, more than they could ask, think, or imagine.

I pray for the the power of the Holy Spirit to move through their life. God of the breakthrough, would you come and demonstrate your goodness and your gen generosity through their life in Jesus' name? We pray the blood of redemption over their families that they would see the greatest miracles of their lifetime happen through their homes.

Lord, pray for the abundance of heaven to mark their lives. and Holy Spirit, would you reveal Jesus in a fresh and clear way to them in this next season that we would have grace to comprehend how wide, how deep, how farreaching is your love. Amen. Amen. You guys did great.

Can we give this worship team an amazing hand? Thank you so much. Hey, give someone a hug as you go back to your seats. And we have a packed house tonight. So, if you have an empty seat next to you, if you could go ahead and raise your hand and just keep them raised for a second so someone needing a seat can find a seat.

If you want to find someone with a raised hand, that'll help us out so much. Hey, Barbara. >> Where Melini is? >> Welcome to church. Wow. Welcome. Welcome. It's awesome to see you in the house of God. Welcome online church. He's everywhere. Wow. Feels so good in here.

It's >> just keeping our eyes on Jesus. Yep. If you have a seat next to you, would you put up a hand with a like number of seats? There's some seats here. If you're looking for a seat, look around. We also have the overflow great room available. Hi, Elenie.

This is Elenie. She's in our >> ESSM Portuguese. >> I thought she was going to talk in Portuguese. We have all the cultures here. This is truly the kingdom of God. >> They're very rich. >> Yes. >> All the cultures. We would like to welcome you who are coming here for the first time.

Where are our first time guests? Raise your hand. In fact, I would love for you to stand. Y >> because that will make it easier for our ushers to find you cuz they have a gift for you. >> Yes. >> And just earlier today I saw a vision of a river and I feel like this is the river of God.

How many of you are actually here and you've come for the conference of >> Wow. Come on. >> Woo. Come on. So if you have come for the conference, I feel like that's for you as well as for our time guests, first time guests. Um I feel like there is a river of God that is in this place already.

We know that. But there is like a new level and I feel like there are new strength in this river. You know, like a flood, you know, like those flood waters that come. I just saw like this flood coming and I saw that some might feel a bit scared and afraid and have a bit of disappointment and I just want to encourage you.

I actually feel the Lord wants to encourage you tonight that you can trust him. He's the shepherd of your soul. He's not going to lead you into something that is not good for you. So if you have come all the way here for this conference, I feel to to encourage you to actually trust Jesus with your heart and enter into the river of God because God wants to meet you in that river.

You have come here all the way to actually meet Jesus. It wasn't to see people and the anointings and the giftings. It's actually to meet your lover and the and your maker. So, I just want to bless your heart right now. Just please place your hands on your heart if you're here for the conference cuz I want to bless you and I want to say to your heart.

Yeah, >> everybody. Come on. Is that enough for everyone? He's not going to that. >> Woo. Thank you, Jesus. I just want to say to your hearts, you can trust Jesus. You can trust the Lord and you can allow him to lead you into the river because he's going to meet you there.

He's going to meet you there. And there's so much that is just going to fall off and there is a new level of the love of God that you are going to meet and you're going to encounter as you go into this river with him. I just bless your hearts with peace and excitement for what you're going to encounter this coming week in Jesus name.

That's so good. Thank you, Elinie. I'm going to invite you to stand. We are going to take our offering. And as we're doing that, we're going to do offering reading, too. If you're Can you can put that up? We like to declare our offerings. And as we're preparing for offering, I just want you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus because he is the most generous person in this room.

He has given it all and I really feel like he is going to pour out. He is the sure word. Christ is our sure word and he is bringing everything in the light. And so I just want to remind you if this is not your home church, we want you to tithe there.

But again, it's a beautiful act of worship. We're just going to keep right on worshiping. If you can put offering reading number two, let's declare that together as we receive today's offering. We are believing you for heaven open, earth invaded, storehouses unlocked and miracles created, dreams and visions, angelic visitations, declarations, impartations and divine manifestations. anointings, giftings, and calls, positions and promotions, provisions and resources to go to the nations, souls and more souls from every generation, saved and set free, carrying kingdom revelation.

Thank you, Father, that as I join my value system to yours, you will shower favor, blessing, and increase upon me so I have more than enough to co-labor with heaven and see Jesus get his full reward. Hallelujah. Yes. So, go ahead and hold out your offering. They're going to pass the buckets.

We want to pray over that. We say God have your way in this offering that you would just be manifest in every dollar given tonight in Jesus' name. Go ahead and pass those buckets. We bless you. And I get the privilege of welcoming our guest who is a man that leads our 9:00 am twin view service.

How many of you have been to the Twin View service? Yes. Such he's such a family man. It's a family service. He also leads our secondyear school of ministry. How many second years? Yes. So Dave Ward is the tallest and the most childlike. Let's welcome him as he comes.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Hi, guys. Good to be with you. Uh, what a treat. Yeah, I I get to lead Twin View 915. Where are my twin Are there any Twin Viewers in the room? I heard a few woohoos. Ride or die. And uh, second years. Second years. Where are my second years at?

And this is a cheat, but I know there's a bunch of Germans in the room. Where are the Germans at? Amazing. Uh it is it is such a gift to be in in the house with you tonight. Um before I leap into my message, actually, Dill, can you stand up?

I just felt God's heart for you uh at the end of worship. Um and um hooray for Dill. Yeah. when when you were leading us when you were leading us at the end, I just felt uh the words that God said about David that this is a man after my own heart.

Um and I really felt his heart for you that you've chosen an audience with one. And then I was taken to Jesus and his baptism. And uh when you think about that story, there's actually been 400 years of silence. Uh God hasn't spoken for 400 years all the way through those Old Testament prophets.

And the first time God audibly speaks is over Jesus. And he chooses to say, "This is my son." And he could have stopped there, but he went on, "In whom I'm well pleased." And it was like this moment where God the father could have spoken to Jesus in private, but he wanted to publicly affirm his son, publicly say, "This is my boy, and he pleases me."

And I just wanted I just felt that same kind of echo tonight that God wants to publicly say over you, he said it over you in secret, but he says over you in public, "This is my son in whom I'm well pleased." And I feel that the choices you've made in secret, the hidden prayers, the hidden choices, God wants you to know, he sees them.

He will reward you. And he wanted to tell you tonight in front of the people, Dylan, I trust you. I trust you. So thank you. Say amen. Say amen. >> So good. Um I think I think I have a word tonight which is a good sign, a good start.

I have a word and um if you know me I I love I love titles. Anybody else like titles? Anyone about five of you. Okay, this could be difficult. Well, I um I felt like the Lord wants wanted me to to teach on prayer on a couple of aspects of prayer sometimes I think we overlook.

And so I had this title uh prayer the wellworn path which sounded very grown up and spiritual but I felt like the Lord gave me an edgier title in the middle of worship. So you get to choose if you're writing it down tonight you get to choose your title.

But the title I felt like he gave me in worship was forget chat GBT. Let's chat. G O D. Oh, I prefer that one. I felt like you guys feel the same way. Forget chat GBT. Let's chat. G O D. So, uh, that's the message title, the message title, uh, tonight.

And, um, when I was asked asked to speak, I was just seeking the heart of God. But if you get the chance, if you haven't, how many of you were at church this morning? Richie spoke such a powerful powerful message. Just such a calibrating message. He said, "I'm not I don't feel like I'm here to preach.

I feel like I'm supposed to lead." And just brought this powerful word this morning. So, if you weren't there this morning, go back uh and and listen to Richie. But yeah, I want to talk on on prayer, two aspects of prayer. And and to set the scene, um I want you to imagine because my first title, remember, was a well-worn path.

I want you to think about prayer tonight. I I'm quite a visual person. I want you to think about prayer forming and wearing a path towards God. There are many other paths. There's paths to j chat GBT. There's there's there's path to your phone. There's paths to busy.

There's paths to so many different things. But I believe God wants us, it's such a simple message, but he's reminding us, bring us back to the wellworn path of prayer to God. How many of you like King David in the Bible? Say yes. Wave at me. Okay, great.

I don't know this is a little narcissistic cuz my name's David, but I love David. I love everything about him. Um, and uh, you know, he's famous. He's famous in the word for so many things. He's famous uh for being a man after God's own heart. He's famous for these stunning psalms.

He was this great warrior, you know, he defeated Goliath. Uh defeated the lions and the bears with his bare hands, which is very impressive. Um and then he goes into battle and God was with him in such a profound way that in scripture he never loses a battle.

That's pretty impressive. going into every single battle with God and God just makes a way and every enemy gets scattered before him. But there's something about David that touches the heart of God in such a profound way that God makes covenant with him. I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but God makes covenant with him.

And hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years later, Jesus, God in the flesh, is sent. And there was something about David that touched God's heart so radically that when he made covenant, he said Jesus would be in his lineage. So Jesus is called the son of David. Remember that in the scripture, son of David, don't pass me by.

Imagine how humbling for David that Jesus Christ somehow is called his son, is in his lineage because of the profound relationship David had with God. Many of you will know these these famous psalms. Psalm 27. Absolutely delicious. One of my favorites. Um you know he's I preached on this actually on a Sunday night.

The first the first time it was the rodeo that same night. So there was about three people here. But it was a really good message. Um and um if you look in Psalm 27, it's that famous Psalm where David is surrounded by an enemy. He's surrounded on every side and he has one prayer to pray and you think, "Oh my goodness."

You know, if you're in his army next to David, hiding with him, you're like, "Oh, David's a friend of God. He's about to pray. He's going to pray, deliver us, Lord, rescue us." But David does this strange thing where he in the threat of death turns his heart and doesn't ask for rescue, but says, "Oh Lord, one thing I ask, one thing I seek, that I may dwell in your house all the days of my life and gaze upon your beauty."

We're all in church feeling very safe right now. We go, "It's so lovely." But I imagine if you were in the army hiding, terrified from death. You're like, "Wrong prayer, David. Wrong prayer. It's not a time for beauty. Rescue. Rescue. But yet, that's what David prays. There's something about David's heart for God.

He's seen something of God that that pulls these deep prayers out of him in moments of danger. >> Last time I was here was uh December, not the rodeo. Um this time on my way to church, there were the great flash floods. Do you remember that in December?

It it was quite amusing if you weren't me. But um you know the first time I preached here uh the rodeo was here so there was about three people. So Richie was like don't worry Dave, come and preach again right before uh right before Christmas. I said okay great.

And on the way to church there are such dramatic flash floods that I think it was the state start texting you stay at home don't leave your house. I'm like Lord what is the matter with my messages? So we had another record low attendance. So, honestly, tonight I was expecting some snow avalanche or something.

I was like, "Oh my goodness, we made it." But if you were there, and and you probably weren't, um, on that night, you were in your houses, I I I preached uh out of Psalm 23, another another famous famous prayer of David where, you know, he walks through the valley of the shadow of death.

And then just when he gets to the end of the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord prepares a table for him in the presence of his enemies. Another crazy psalm, a famous psalm, but it's beautiful until you're the person where God prepares a table in the midst of all your enemies.

And yet, David discovers something. Instead of trying again to get out of crisis, he turns and discovers a God that's preparing food and a table and a meal, wanting to anoint his head with oil. So, these are the famous texts of David. There's so many more I could go into.

And uh they're famous for a reason. They're vital for a reason, but tonight the first uh area of prayer I actually want to emphasize is something slightly uh different. Um, it's in the life of David, but I think it's a a part of prayer that I honestly think we often overlook.

So, I'm going to pray and then I'm going to try and uh show you what I what I think he's saying. So, Jesus, help me take care of your heart. Thank you for the privilege of taking care of your heart, of your emotions. I love you and I pray that you would give me the grace and your words, your heart and your tone tonight.

And everyone said, >> "Amen." Amen. So, if you have your Bibles, we're going to jump around a few psalms. So, I want you to hear this for me. I see that David is famous and rightly so for these he's he's written so many of these psalms about the beauty uh thanking God in crazy situations and I think we all have a value for that but there's a place in David informing prayer if you will informing that path a well-worn path that I call the ugly prayers this is Richard Gordon turn to your neighbor and say ugly prayers >> ugly prayers I do believe God is emphasizing this for some of us tonight.

I'm going to try and show you something that has has been has changed changed my life honestly in the way I interact with God. Let's chat God O D. So if you turn quickly to Psalm 13, I'm just going to jump around. David's ugly prayers. This man famous for friendship with God.

This man known as a man after God's own heart. This man that even Jesus is called son of David. The psalmist writing these beautiful poems. Psalm 13 begins, "How long, O Lord, will you forget me? Forever." Oh dear, David must be having a bad day. How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Stop there. I just want you to see this. This friend of God, this man famous for pulling and accessing revelation of God.

Some say meant for the new covenant. this this man that chooses God's heart over everything. Here he is, an ugly prayer, accusing God. He doesn't say, "It feels like you forget me." He says, "You've forgotten me forever." He doesn't say, "It feels like you've hidden your face from me."

He says, "You have hidden your face from me." Jump to Psalm 22 just to make it worse. David, man after God's own heart, begins, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It's an accusation. Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning?

Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer and by night, but I find no rest. Stop there. Now, when I've heard, and you're going to get used to me over the next few minutes, when I've when I've heard uh people preach on on these psalms before, the emphasis they often make is, "Yeah, but it starts bad, but it ends good."

And I I think that's a legitimate emphasis, but I want to emphasize that it starts bad. All right. Why is this so important to me and hopefully to you? Because David, this man that we so desire to have a relationship with God like him in some ways, he legitimizes, he legitimizes ugly prayers.

Uh let me say it like this. I love and many of us are great. I can walk the path of prayer when things are going well. I skip. I feel great. Thank you, Jesus. My life's blessed and highly favored. Many of us can even forge a path of prayer.

We know those moments when your feelings are screaming, everything's difficult, and there's that grace to surrender and say, "In the midst of trial, in the in the midst of suffering, oh God, I give you a sacrifice of praise." And that's beautiful and valid, too. But for many of us, we haven't discovered yet, like David, that sometimes all we have is an ugly prayer, a prayer of pain, a prayer of complaint.

And I believe David reveals this father that would rather have us walk the path of prayer with an ugly prayer than not have us walk the path at all. I do think it requires great surrender and I don't think we have to choose. But there are moments. How many of you have had a moment in a really hard season where it just everything feels like it's going wrong and then you can surrender and there's that grace to give this this offering of praise and worship and this intimacy and connection comes.

Ah, I love those moments. I also feel quite spiritual in those moments. Anyone else when that happens? You're like, "Wow, I'm doing wow." Yeah. This is a different type of surrender when you long to have that perfect prayer form in you and yet you have to take a risk.

You have to turn to a God that deserves better and give him your worst in prayer and find out if he'll still give you his best. I believe if you don't learn like David the ugly prayer path then then what happens is instead of forging a path towards God you'll find a path somewhere else whether it's a numbing whether it's other things they don't have to be bad sinful things but if you don't know I say it like this uh the depth of intimacy you have with someone is directly correlated to the depth of honesty you have with someone.

And I feel for some of us tonight in this season, and I understand we're in some measure in a corporate season as a house, and then we're all on these these beautiful individual seasons. I feel like God is inviting us to have the courage to pray an honest ugly prayer and just make sure you pray.

God once said to me, "It doesn't matter, Dave, what you pray or how you pray. It just matters that you pray that you pray." I was thinking about this with my my 11-year-old son. He's a fantastic fantastic young man. John Benjamin, son of my right hand. That's what Benjamin means.

As a father, as an imperfect father, I do not fear him coming to me with anger. I do not fear him coming to me entitled. I do not fear him coming to me proud. I do not fear him coming to me even with an accusation in his heart towards how I am in his life.

That doesn't scare me. What scares me is that he won't come. What scares me is he won't forge a path of connection towards me as his dad. That he'll feel like he can give me his successes. He can give me the best version of himself. but he doesn't know or I haven't revealed to him that I'm a safe father when all he has is an honest ugly thought or reality.

How much more so is this perfect father of lights desiring and communicating through David, oh just come to me. Just forge this path of I'll take even your ugly prayers. I don't know about you, but in in this text, if I was the editor of the scriptures, which I'm clearly not, I would have, you know, Psalm 13, how long, oh Lord, will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide? I think I'd have just been like, edit that out of the scriptures. Keep Psalm 23, Psalm 27. How long must I take? Yeah, remove that. Keep Psalm 139. That's a winner. Keep that one in. But this father is a different kind of father.

He's a secure father. This is wild to me. These these psalms that I'm reading you where the ugly prayers, they're not just the word of David. What's this? It's the word of I don't know if you've ever thought about this. This father, you know, in uh 2 Timothy 3, it says all scripture is God breathed.

There's something about the heart of God. Again, this was me and my son wrote a few sort of poems out and some of them are like, "My dad's amazing. I feel connected." I'm like, "Yes, we'll keep that on record. That's wonderful." And then he's like, "Dad, you suck.

You've left me." I'm like, "Remove that one. Keep that out of the records." And yet this this father, he's like, "Oh, I want my children to know that I desire connection, that they can come to me, that they can pray in any space, in any place, that let's not only call these the word the words of David.

Let's put this in eternal scripture as my own words." >> Are you getting this? This should blow your mind. Some of you are one ugly prayer away from God. Some of you are one ugly prayer away from depression breaking in your life. >> Oh, what a joy it is.

I love going to God in those moments of surrender. You've got the guitar, you know, the angels are playing the violins and there's that beautiful sacrificial moment of praise. I love that. But there's something of God that you can only discover when you stumble up that road with an ugly, complainy, angry prayer towards him and he's kind.

Oh, that'll mess with you. That'll mess with you. I've never figured out as well, people say sometimes, and I know what we mean, but we say you shouldn't complain to God and that kind of stuff. And I agree. What do you do that's in there? Someone tell me where do I go if if there's pain in my heart?

If there's anger, resentment, frustration, if I don't walk the path towards God, do I deal with it on my own? Where do I go? I don't want my son wrestling these things out on himself until he's got himself in the right frame of mind before he comes into my presence.

I want my boy, it's it's actually um a reflection of our connection, our my success. if he can come to me in the midst of that process. Thank you, David, for being willing to pray ugly prayers. Can I show you one more here that's just a bit more fun, but uh makes me laugh.

So, I thought I'd try it on you guys. Jump to Psalm 139. I have to say when I was younger in my teens and my uh early 20s, I totally judged David for having these sort of ranty psalms. I was like, "David, come on." And then life happened to me and I was so thankful for these psalms.

Anybody else in my 20ies, I was like, "Weakness, disgusting. I would never do that." And then life beat me up and I'm like, "Oh, thank you, David. Psalm 139. My my granddad who I he was a very special man in my life. I called him spare dad. When I met Jesus at 15, he gave me a little pocket Bible and he gave me Psalm 139.

And I just want to show you something that I find so funny here. It's again it's David, you know. Again, this is um prophetic imagination. I mean, whatever. This is not actually, but I imagine him in, you know, his castle and he's got the the psalm uh the harp, you know, and he's writing Psalm 139.

Watch this. He's like, "Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. Do you know when I sit down, lovely, and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar? You search out my path and my lying down, you know, plucking away on the This is wonderful poem."

He jumps down to verse seven. Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in shol, you are there. It just goes on. It's just, oh, it's just the imagery.

It's so beautiful. For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Absolute classic, this psalm. Verse 17, how precious to me are your thoughts, oh God. How vast is the sum of them? If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake and I'm still with you. And then I imagine he's looking in the castle and he looks out the window and he sees someone he doesn't like. And he's suddenly like, "Oh, that you would slay the wicked, oh God. Oh men of blood, depart from me." He's like, "Do I not hate those who hate you, oh Lord?"

And he's like, "I hate them with complete hatred." It's a lot of hatred. You're like, "Yes. I count them my enemies. And it's like he snaps out of it. He's like, "Sorry, sorry." And then he goes on to verse 33, "Search me, oh God, and know my heart."

Ah, yes. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there's any grievous way in me. I'm like, dude, did you not just see what you just said? Verse 22, I hate them with complete hatred. This isn't the Bible. Maybe you're all much more spiritual than me, but this just gives me so much permission.

Oh, David, this this stunning man of God, he's writing an absolute classic and it just has to invade it with a bit of hatred. Sorry, sorry. Back back to the beauty again. When I was younger, I would just look at that and just be like, "Oh, cut that paragraph out."

And for some reason, I just, maybe it's just me, but I just love that it's still in there. I just love the humanity of forging a path of prayer. Let's chat. Go O D. Let's not just chat about the good stuff, about your best stuff, about the easy stuff.

Let's not just chat when you're in a really hard season and oh, that prayer and that song comes out of you. That's gorgeous to me, too. Let's even chat when you have nothing but an ugly prayer in your heart. Just forge that path. Make that path well worn towards me.

I shared uh last time when I was here, so I won't share the whole story uh tonight. But um in my early 20ies, I suffered from severe anxiety, uh torment, uh just had several breakdowns. I tried everything. I I I forged a path to anti-depressants. They didn't work for me personally.

Now, I understand for many of you, uh God takes you on a journey. So, it's not this isn't a message that don't take anti-depressants, but for me, I tr I was trying everything. I forged a path to anti-depressants and there was no relief. I forged a path to self-help and that didn't work for me either.

This is a slightly longer stranger story in I became a therapist. I forged the therapist path and became a therapist to help other people in anxiety and depression. For a season it worked and then I began to fall apart again. Now as a therapist I tried to forge all these different paths but the one path in my trial in my pain in my torment I hadn't formed.

I hadn't worn yet was the path of prayer towards the heart of God the heart of the father. And I won't go into the whole story again, but in that season, I had a an amazing leader in my life. I ba basically hit this this crossroads where I was so wound and bound in my anxiety.

I'd had so many people tell me that was part of my identity. This was who I would always be. They meant well. They were trying to um break off the shame of of that struggle by labeling me with it. It was well-meaning, but it meant I took on this entire identity of anxiety.

People used to prophesy sometimes over me and say, "Dave, you're a man of peace." And I genuinely think in my heart as they said it, "Oh, that's a bad word. They've got that one wrong. I'm many things, but peace is not something I think I'll ever know." And in that season, this leader and my my amazing wife and a few others, they just said, "Dave, it feels like you've tried everything.

It feels, if you will, like you've tried forming all these paths, but you haven't yet given up on those paths and turned your heart to God. And so at that time, this leader, she said to me, I want you, Dave, I want you to get a journal. And I didn't like journaling.

I want you to get a journal and I want you to write D for Dave and tell God how you're feeling about life, about him. And then she said, 'A you've written it all out, I want you to write G for God and write back what he says.

And I said to her, I think that's ridiculous. I don't believe I hear the voice of God. Um I don't I think I'm just going to be talking to myself. And if I write what I think that's going to be really ugly, really bad. And she made the clever point of saying, "Dave, how's your life working out for you right now?"

Which is slightly painful. I thought about it and I thought, "Good point. My my life is a mess." She says, "You have nothing to lose. Suspend disbelief for a couple of months and write to God." And I won't go into the whole story again, but this started this this season of writing down ugly prayers, telling God, daring to surrender and trust and tell God what I really thought of him and what I really thought of me.

And boy, those prayers were colorful. They didn't feel they didn't feel like prayers. They felt bad and ugly. Pain rarely comes out pretty. But then I would write gee for God. And it was like the things he would write back were too kind, too generous. It was like the worst of me I could give him, the soft heart of the father came back to me.

He was playful with me. He laughed at me. He forgave me. He spoke over me. And it was a process. But over time, I discovered there's a part of God that I don't know how to discover outside giving him those real honest ugly prayers. This lasted for a few for a few years.

I think this journaling I filled journals and journals, not all of ugly press. There was some nice stuff in there, but a lot of a lot of raw, a lot of real. And as I went through that season, I moved into a different season. A few years later, I was going through my my drawers, my shelves, you know how you do.

And I came upon these old journals a few years later, and I sort of got them out, and I just started reading them, and I was like, "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I said that. Oh golly." And and it was because it was just it was it was strong strong stuff.

I was like, "Wow." Because I was a few years on. God had healed my heart in that journey. He'd unwound me out of religion, unwound me out of anxiety. And so I actually now lived in peace. I enjoyed being in my own skin. That when I went back and I found these journals, I judged me.

Have you ever done that? Judge the younger version of you? Like gh so embarrassing. I was reading them judging me and the father came swiftly so swiftly to me and he said, "Oh Dave, what you're scorning, what you're mocking, be careful cuz I call that our psalm season together."

So the first simple thing I just wanted to talking about prayer tonight and maybe all of you know this but sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is be yourself and it feels so unspiritual but I believe in the life of David etched in the words of scripture again I understand there's so many other psalms where It's right to praise in the midst of everything.

And I honor that and I love that and that's a big part of my walk. But I feel like for some of you, you don't know yet that God wants your ugly prayer. You guys okay? Lie to me if you have to. Yes, Dave, we're great. >> Thank you very much.

Well, my ego just shot through the roof. I had to pray about that afterwards. I said I had two two aspects to the heart of God that I felt like he was emphasizing tonight. So the first one was the ugly prayers of David. The ugly prayers, the permission, the legitimate permission to tell God what's really in there, just like I want with my son.

I want to show you another passage that's kind of was on my heart about prayer. If you jump now into into the new covenant into Luke 11. So Luke 11. So, we've got the strange, ugly prayers of the Old Testament, and now we've got a surprising for me when you look at this, a surprising invitation uh from Jesus in in in the famous passage about prayer.

So, it's Luke 11. So it says, "Now Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he finished, one of of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us how to pray." So I want you to think about this. This is a request from the disciples. They've been with Jesus.

They've watched him raise the dead. They've watched him heal the sick. They've watched him multiply food. They've just been around him seeing him doing these stunning supernatural events. They've also watched how he goes into the crowd. There's this kind of rhythm, this pattern. He goes into the crowd, but just like what I'm saying tonight, he then pulls away and and forms this wellworn path of prayer.

And so, it's interesting the disciples don't go, "Jesus, that raising the dead thing, that looks awesome. How do you do that?" Somehow this disciple it says Jesus was praying and I don't know if the disciple was just saw Jesus praying and something gripped him something moved him maybe he goes there's something that you're doing there's something about your prayer that impacts everything else like everything else we want and desire they somehow he sees perhaps it's connected to Jesus withdrawing and forming this path of prayer and so he says Lord teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.

So I'll read this. I'm going to jump in a moment to verse five. And he said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins. For we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation."

The Lord's prayer, we know it. But I want you to to draw your attention to this this this story, this parable. Sometimes I think we get so familiar with these stories and scriptures that I have to almost not I was going to say slap myself. I don't do that but I have to kind of look at it aresh.

So this is a story they've said Jesus teach us how to pray. And this is the parable Jesus gives them. And he said to them, "Which of you uh who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him, and he will answer from within.

Do not bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything." I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence, impudence, how do you say it in America?

Impudence. I don't know. I think in England we say impudence. It's a side side issue. Uh yet because of his impedance, he will rise and give him whatever he needs. Let me read that last sentence to you. Um I tell you though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

This is a bizarre story. The disciples have said Jesus teach us how to pray. Jesus could have taught them anything. Think of John 15 the the abiding passage. He could have said you know in John 15 he's talking about you know I am the tree. You're the branches. abide in me and and if my word abides in you, you will have whatever you ask for in my name.

It's kind of that friendship like, oh, I'm just in you and you're in me. Yum, I love this. This is not that moment. The disciples say, "Teach us how to pray. Teach us." And the story Jesus uses is baffling to me. He basically describes being rudely awoken in the middle of the night.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. This is how to pray. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang on the door, middle of the night. Rude. It says he's in bed with his kids. Now, I'm a I'm a parent. How many of you are parents with young kids?

If somebody bangs on my door in the middle of the night and wakes my kids, I turn into a tarantula. I'm telling you, like when my like when my kids are asleep, I warn you, like it's like, don't move a muscle. Like, my kids are asleep. This is wonderful.

Don't wake them up. And yet Jesus in this parable is saying, "I want you to pray like this at midnight." Really rude, inappropriate time. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Wake me up. Now, this is what's fascinating. He says, "I won't answer you because you're my friend." What's the point?

Your relational favor with me, our connection, our proximity is not in this instance what's going to make me answer you. It's because of your impudence. What's the point? I looked up that word in Greek, but I really hope none of you speak Greek because it's it's an anadea and it's it's translated as shameless persistence. unmbarrassed boldness in any other other context.

It's inappropriate. It's a negative use. And yet Jesus is saying here, the disciples, their hearts are open. Teach us how to pray. And he uses this strange story. Wake me up. Put me out. Interrupt my life. and do not quit. And he's saying that's that's how you pray.

That's how you pray. We've got the ugly prayer of David. Lord, where on earth have you gone? Have you forgotten me? And now, in a way, Jesus is saying, you know, I I imagine you think, teach me how to pray. I'll start by praying in tongues for two minutes.

Put on the worship. Adopt the position. He doesn't say that. He uses almost an aggressive story in the middle of the night. Pound on the door. Don't take no for an answer. And God's saying, "That's how I want you to pray for me. I want you to risk putting me out.

I want you to get up in my space and not change the subject." That's how you pray. When I was when I was reading this earlier, I really felt the breath of God. It says here, yet because of his impudence, verse 5, he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

Who's the he? He's talking about God. When you pray like this, God will rise and and give you whatever you need. The verse is after ask, seek, knock. And there's this stunning revelation of the father. But again, I felt tonight like the Lord was highlighting, teach us how to pray. this resolute, shameless, ugly, if you will, forging of a path, well-worn path.

God, I haven't seen the answer yet. Oh dear, it's midnight and I think you might be sleep with the kids. I need bread. I need bread. Bum bum. Hey, friend. Oh, he's not giving it to me cuz I'm his friend. Wake up, God. Wake up. I need an answer.

I need bread for tomorrow morning. You're like, couldn't you have just knocked in the morning 6:00 a.m. and made the bread? I I don't know how they made bread back then. But God is saying to us, forge that path of prayer. It doesn't always have to look pretty.

Sometimes you just refuse to quit. Come to me. Keep asking. Keep knocking. I I wanted to share a story out of my own life with this. Um there's because I think it encapsulates both the ugly prayers and also the the banging on the door, the waking God up at midnight.

I don't think he sleeps, but it's it's a good it's a good story. Um now, so in just to set the scene for you, it's to do with my my my physical health. In my I was really healthy all the way up until my 20s. And um and then in my 20s, I suddenly got struck down by all these very severe illnesses.

I had cellulitis, which is like a skin blood infection five times, hospitalized each time uh for a week or so. I had septacmia. It's not not a competition. I had uh pneumonia, a menitis, appendicitis, mumps, uh probably a couple of other things. That was during my breakdowns as well.

It was a It was a fun 20s for Dave Ward. I had all these I said I should write a song about it. All these different names. I got cellulitis appendicitis. Um I didn't I didn't write a song about it. So, I'm really healthy and then bang, I'm struck down by these severe illnesses in my 20ies uh in and out of hospital, just extreme amounts of pain and difficulty and uh and I went through all of that and then they eventually discovered I had a condition I have a condition called lympadema um which uh basically meant my leg I had this swelling leg which I never knew why.

I won't go into all the science of it, but basically because my leg was so swollen, it should work like a river, but it worked like a lake. And that's why I was getting all these uh dramatic illnesses. And so I had and I have compression stockings um to help the flow of my body.

So I'm going through this in my 20ies. I end up coming to Bethl uh this place where they see God heal. And I'm so excited. I want to see miracles. Um, I I believe in this powerful father. I always say the powerless gospel reveals an absent passive father.

So, I'm like passionate. I'm like, "Yeah, I'm coming for the miracles." And I'm here and I'm seeing miracles and people seeing healing rarely through me, but I'm seeing it. So, I'm like, "Wow, this is amazing. I'm in this amazing house believing uh for this, but I feel disqualified.

I feel so I know it's you know when you know you think wrong but you still think it. Has anybody ever felt like you're like I know this is the wrong answer. I secretly definitely think like this. I knew it was silly to feel disqualified and ashamed. And yet somehow because I had these compression stockings it felt like it was illegitimate for me to pray for the sick.

I did but there was this wrestle within me. So I'm here. My friends are seeing uh healings and stuff like that. and I'm thankful for them, but when I'm praying, I'm not seeing much breakthrough. Um I I feel this is probably about seven or eight years ago. I feel like the Lord like this passage Luke 11, God says, Dave, when you're out in your lifestyle on the streets, I want you to pray for the sick.

When I when I give you a person, when I highlight someone, press in. Bang on that door. Wake me up at midnight and pray for the sick. I'm like, "Oh, I'm so excited. This is going to be so great." I pray for about 200 people over the next few years on the street and I saw zilch not one healing.

Not one. Not not even a little pinky finger or a pinky toe. No healing. That's another message in itself. But I'm basically I'm in this Luke 11. Like you'd think, well, how on earth did you not quit because you sucked at it. And I was like, I did.

But somehow in the obedience, I felt the pleasure of God even though I wasn't seeing the breakthrough. So, I've got all these awful sicknesses in my 20ies. I'm at Bethl, believing for healing, praying for the sick, and not seeing any, not even a little pinky pinky finger. Then, because of my leg, um, PS, I should warn you, the story gets really good at the end, so hang in there.

So, if you're like, "Oh my lord, this poor guy. We should pray for him." I'll take a prayer at the end. So, we're going through all this and I have a surgery on my leg to try and improve it. That goes that goes well. And then I basically have one surgery left for my leg.

It's a threeday surgery. Turn your neighbor Richie Gordon Star. Say three-day surgery. >> Threeday surgery. 30 hours of general anesthetic in 3 days. 10 hours a day. Yeah. Yeah. And um and they basically they were going to take lymph nodes from my armpit, transplant it into the my left groin where the issue is and then do micro surgery all down my leg.

And as we know to do in this community, my friends pressed in and prayed. I prayed. I remember my kids praying every day. I've still got a card where my son wrote on the card. He was five or six at the time. Dad, I still have hope for you.

Still pressing in for the miracles. Still praying. Still crying out. I had all these amazing, wonderful people, you know, lay hands with me and and and believed for healing. We before the three-day surgery, we gathered as a community and we worshiped and we gave God thanks and we still pressed in and believed for healing.

And then at the surgery, I go through the three days of surgery and not only do I not get miraculously healed, it's not supposed to be that painful a surgery, but I I'll spare you the details. So basically, you lie on a slab for 30 hours, and I didn't have much padding, if you catch my drift.

Didn't have enough padding. And if you lie on a concrete slab for 3 days in a row, it caused tremendous swelling on my lower back and my butt. And you go, "Well, swelling on your behind and your back doesn't sound that bad." Remember all those things I told you?

That pain was significantly worse than all the others because I was having to lie on the very place that was swollen. took three months for the swelling to leave. So I come out of the surgery 30 days, 30 hours of generalized leg kind of like whoa dude and in tremendous amounts of pain.

I get taken back to reading. I have two weeks where I can't walk for more than 30 minutes a day. I have tubes coming out of me here, tubes coming out of me here. And I'm I'm in my room and it feels like and the evidence appears to say that prayer didn't work at all in my life.

Everything, every prayer, every breakthrough that I believed in, all the things I've seen, here I am. And all those prayers targeted me. Not only did I not see the miracle, I remember lying that last night in the hospital just feeling so alone and in so much agony. And I was still so drugged up.

I didn't know how to say how much pain I was in. It was like prayer. It was like the voice of the enemy. Prayer doesn't work. Have you ever felt that way? Again, you're all much more spiritual than me, I'm sure. In those two weeks after the surgery, I want you to hear this.

I did what David taught me to do, and I forged ugly prayers. I grumbled and I grumbled and I grumbled and it was lovely. Honestly, I should tell you that I should I know it's the wrong answer but it was actually I don't know how to say this right.

Too often we miss the part it's like the suddenly comes and we preach about the suddenly and we never talk about the gradually that led up to it. For two weeks in my room there the only grace I had was I couldn't even walk. So it wasn't this is my spirit.

I couldn't even walk the path of prayer. I was I was my leg. So I would just turn my heart and the best I could give him was where were you? It feels like you weren't there. It was all I had. But it was better than chat GBT.

It was better than just numbing in YouTube. It was like the only thing I could do. I know perhaps some of you don't like this. There was a grace to grumble. Just like I said with my son, God would rather me grumble with him than grumble on my own. >> So I did that for two weeks and I don't know why and I think you'll know what I mean.

After two weeks of these gradually grumblings, the grace to grumble, one morning I woke up for whatever reason it was like you know that fe you know that moment where you suddenly the clouds part in your spirit and that sunlight breaks through. I had no different answer or understanding.

But suddenly the grace changed from the grace to grumble. The grace was suddenly there to surrender in a new way and just let go and trust and worship and choose Jesus. So I grabbed my family quick. I couldn't run cuz I couldn't. So I probably hobbled down the corridor.

We gathered as a family and the grace the grace was there. We took communion together. We we sang that song, The House of Miracles. This is a house of miracles. And we crossed the line. We said in the middle of seeing no obvious answers to prayer. This is the time as a family to say, "We are a house of miracles.

We believe God is a God of miracles." And we cross the line. We draw a line in the sand before we see the breakthrough. We believe that this is who you are, God. Now, that moment sounds so much more beautiful than it was. But oh, I love the grace of both.

And when you really discover what he's like, he's the God of the graduies and the suddenlys. He's the God of the grumbles and the God of the spiritual sudden. Both are by grace. When you give that prayer of worship and secretly feel a little bit spiritual, it was all by grace.

Anyway, you guys okay? >> So, I'm in that moment. We make a choice as a family. We say, "This is who God is. This is who we are. And we will not quit." Several months later, I'm sitting in the place I sit in the dark every morning. I sat there a thousand times before.

I'm sitting there, my cup of tea, just doing life with God, legs healed up, sitting there just a normal morning. And as I'm there, suddenly all the memories of being in hospital in my 20ies start replaying in my mind. these moments in the middle of the night where I was in Agny, my temperature is 105, the doctors with masks are running in and getting me cold because I'm over hot and then 5 minutes later I'm too cold.

So then they're covering me up and just feeling so alone. And just like David, as these memories start to come, these words form in my heart, this prayer, this ugly prayer, if you will, God, where were you? You weren't there. You left me. You abandoned me. Where were you?

I I I know you said you were there, but if you weren't I You weren't there. And as I'm going through these memories, just like any other day, this is what's happening in me. I hadn't had it before like that. As I'm going through this, I don't know how to say this well, but suddenly there's this loud loud noise.

I don't know how to describe this, right? All I can tell you is suddenly I became aware that I was in the presence of many many angels. And I wasn't like oo angels. I was like terrified. It was like the sound you know in two kings Elisha when he's with the servant and the servants's freaked out by what he sees.

And Elisha prays open his eyes and he suddenly sees the armies of God. It was like this. I went from going God you weren't there. You abandoned me. Ugly prayer. But I'm forming that path of prayer suddenly, not looking for it. Angels, I wish this happened to me all the time.

It really doesn't, just to be clear. Remember, it came out of me praying an ugly prayer. So, suddenly, I'm in this moment where I'm terrified. And God, it's like God stood in the midst of them. And now, he takes me back through all those memories. And now instead of seeing how I was alone, I see I feel the weight of this angelic presence.

I recognize God was in all of these moments. At the end of that, he comes to me as best I know how to describe it. He comes to me and he he speaks to me out of Exodus 15, which is the first revelation of the Lord being our healer.

It says, "I am the Lord your healer." And again, I don't know how to describe this. Stay in the story with me, but it was like he stood before me. And he said, "I am the Lord, your healer." And in that moment, I didn't get physically healed, but I knew, I don't know how I knew, but I knew that God was entrusting me now with his healing presence, to see healing in my own life.

I came out of that experience. A few months later, I get invited to South Africa to speak at a conference. And that doesn't happen to me very often. So, I was like, "Oo, this is exciting." So we go to South Africa and um so I remember remember the backstory 20s stacks of sickness and illnesses uh leg condition praying for hundreds of people seeing not even a pinky finger healed uh three-day leg surgery feeling like there's no pray like I've been pounding on the door pounding on the door waking God up in the night and there's nothing then I have this encounter where God comes and he shows me where he was and now I'm in South Africa uh at this conference speaking this conference and it's it's going well.

But they tell me, they go, "Dave, so exciting." And I'm like, "What's so exciting?" They're like, "We've decided to have a big healing meeting on the last night. We're going to make all this space. Bring all the sick. We're telling everyone, bring all the sick people." And I'm like, "Huh?"

And they're like, "And you're going to lead the meeting?" And I did that thing you do where you're like, "Yay." And on the inside, you're like, "Cancel my flight, fly out early, change flights, get out." Oh gosh. So I go through the few days and and that that night that dreaded night comes and I have a few hours off in the afternoon and I literally this is I promise you this is true.

I go to my room and I'm literally thinking I need the best healing uh message preaching scripture thing. I need something awesome God. And I get absolutely nothing. and I lie down on my bed for a moment and I accidentally fall asleep and I wake up about 20 minutes before the meeting's about to start and there's no there's not like a panic prayer works too.

Ugly prayers, py prayers. There's no like, "Oh Jesus, this is in your hands." It was like, "Ah." So I end up in this meeting. Remember the backstory? End up in this meeting. We go through worship and it's one of those just like, "Oh Lord, this if you don't come, you know, you're having those kind of quiet and confus Lord."

And on the inside, you're just like, and cut a long story short, they get me up. I I don't have a great preaching healing message because I slept. And I just I just have a a wing and a prayer. I just have a look. God, you have to be real.

I'm pounding on the door one more time. I say something very simple. Hopefully, it was in the Bible. I'm pretty sure it was. and and then I turn it over to the meeting. Remember, I have prayed hundreds of times and seen nothing. This time from that encounter when the Lord said, "I am your healer and gave me."

This time I pray the same prayer that I've prayed countless times before. Wasn't better, wasn't smarter. But this time, this time after years, decades of seeing nothing, healing just starts to move across across the room. And I'm surprised I'm as surp I'm probably more surprised than they are.

I want to tell you just a I want to tell you a couple of testimonies. I want you to hear this. I want you to hear tonight about the ugly prayers. I want you to hear about the banging on the door, the rude prayers. But I want you to hear because sometimes these journeys take longer than five minutes.

God starts moving across the room. Just some of these cool testimonies, things I've never seen before through anything to do with me. We saw a woman had flown. I didn't know any of these people flew in, which probably helped my faith levels because that would have scared the life out of me.

A woman had flown in with stomach ulcers so badly that she was coughing up blood and she and the doctor told her not to come. She decided to go because she felt a mustard seed-sized faith. In that night, God healed her body completely. Completely healed her stomach ulcers instantly.

Um, we had fun ones. We had a a married couple that had been trying for ba uh baby for um I think it was four years. She was 40 about to turn 45 and I I prayed for her and nine months later at 45 she had this this beautiful daughter.

We saw bodies bodies healed uh all over the room. One of my one of my favorite favorite ones was this is so moving to me. This lady um she had been an expert pianist but had got such severe arthritis that her hands she was no longer to play the piano.

Then she'd had an autoimmune disease for 10 years affecting her lungs. Uh and it was just she was so allergic she couldn't really go into public spaces anymore because it was so dangerous for her. Um and uh anything any like it could be painting anything that the the smell the stuff it could set her off.

So she was uh really uh her life was so small she could no longer drive. She was basically housebound. The only healthy thing the doctor said the only healthy organ she had in her body was her heart and then in COVID she got COVID really really severely and her heart got really damaged.

So hands arthritis autoimmune disease of 10 years lungs and a damaged heart. And the pastor said to her, thank goodness again, I didn't know this. The pastor said, "We've got a a friend coming in from America and we're going to do this big healing night. You should come."

And um and she she spoke to a doctor and her doctor said, "You shouldn't go. Your many of your organs are in danger of shutting down. Do not go to this meeting." But again, she felt a smidgen of faith. So that night she went. One of our students prayed for her hands and the pain left her hands of arthritis completely.

She got a hand. They got a motion back. That gave her faith for the autoimmune disease. So, she stayed in the event. She went back to the doctors uh two two weeks later. I think it was 10 days or two weeks later. They did a full body scan of her body and they said to her, they were absolutely stunned.

They said, "I don't know how to tell you this. It's like you have the heart and lungs of an eight-year-old girl." 8-year-old girl. I could tell you so many more stories. After forming that path, banging on the door, I came back and God started just the same prayers, but God just started moving in my family's life.

We're in England on a vacation on the underground. Not on the underground. That wasn't where our vacation was. I was on vacation on the underground that particular day. And I was looking for someone. Uh I was late. I bumped into somebody that worked there. She had a cast, a black cast on her arm.

Long story short, she had carpal tunnel and had a surgery. It hadn't worked. I prayed this simple prayer. Her eyes got big. She took off a cast and started pressing. And then she started weeping underground in my home nation as God had radically healed her body. My kid started to get uh infected with the healing miracle thing.

They started going after it. My my son was he's confident. He's got very confident. He's got an anointing for headaches. And he prayed for someone in his class who got healed of a headache. He was very pleased, very proud. He then shared the testimony a couple of days later in chapel and the principal walked in with severe tooth toothache.

She thought she was at the beginning of a tooth infection. Just hearing my son release a testimony. God immediately healed her mouth. He'll heal the tooth. We were out on a mand date. John and all my kids, we have dates. I was on a mand date with John and the Holy Spirit interrupted us.

We were playing a game and reminded me of someone that this is four years ago that um was desperately trying to have a baby and had just had so many uh terrible painful moments happen. We went to her house and asked to pray for her and I prayed a distinctly average prayer.

I remember thinking that wasn't very good. But then John, my son, I remember he put his hand on her stomach and I remember as he prayed, I felt power through his hand. Nine months later, they had their son welcomed him into the world. I could tell you story after story.

We we were at school one day here and my little Lucy Rose um she had a word of knowledge about a man with a pain in his left knee and there was a pastor from Texas at the back as we called out the words of knowledge and he he came at the end of the s at the end of the meeting and he said I've had terrible uh knee pain in my left knee for 10 years and when your daughter called out that word all the pain left my knees been completely healed.

I know that's a long story, a long testimony, but I I I I wanted you to hear the journey to see that there's there's the ugly prayers that we pray just because because God the father wants us to be able to come to him like that. And then also there are the prayers, the offensive prayers where you bang and you bang at the door and you demand, I need bread.

I need bread. I need bread. I need bread. And sometimes it feels like you're not getting any bread. But if you refuse to quit, you continue forging this well-worn path to the heart of God, some point, I don't know fully why, but it's like the clouds part and you get the answer you're looking for.

What was wonderful about that journey was it wasn't just that I got an individual breakthrough. My family get to go on God adventures together. I get to watch my kids clumsily. They're they're so much more faithful than me because they're children. I've got all this sort of weird doubt stuff in my head.

They just believe God and it's so cool to see. I'm going to wrap in just a moment. Um, no. No. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I wish I hadn't done that last 3 seconds. I'm so sorry. Sorry to my younger 25 pretending to be cool self. Um, I know it's a simple message, but I just felt like God wanted to say tonight, forget chat, GBT.

Let's chat, go O D. And perhaps some of you need to know that God wants even your ugly prayers. Perhaps some of you attempted to quit waking God up at midnight asking for bread. There's a whisper that this is inappropriate or you if it was real, you should have seen the breakthrough by now.

And so you're tempted to back away from that wellformed path and just move on to something else. I want to say this, protect your prayer life. protect the heart of God. I I'll be honest with you. You've probably guess you've probably seen it, but I'm a real human.

Real real. Unfortunately for all of us are human, right? I I'd love to tell I have a I'm I think I'm addicted to my phone without boundaries. It's like a dopamine shot. Don't pretend that none of you are ever. I I I've realized if I don't boundary this thing, all those opportunities to forge that path of prayer, I'm losing with this.

I've had to cut out social. Again, I'm not saying the social media is the devil or any of that stuff, but it's this is how I say it. The world is offering information and answers. God is offering intimacy. >> Chat GBT gives you that quick answer for 5 seconds.

But that wellformed path of prayer doesn't just give you information. Doesn't just give you an answer. It gives you the person of God and his eternal heart and his closeness that lasts forever. Some of us I like I really I've had to I can't even get on to chat between my phone anymore.

I'm like an old man. I've got that a computer. Remember those things those laptops? I I've had to I've had to shut this down not because I'm so spiritual but because I'm not. And I when it's right in my pocket. There were so many moments before this where I would forge that path where now I can get a quick answer.

And I'm scared that this dopamine release will in the short term give me what I want, but in the long term I'll miss forging making this path deep into the heart of God. So I want to pray pray for you if that's okay. Um, I want to pray firstly if when I'm talking about ugly prayers, if you feel like God's talking to you and and you haven't known that you could pray an ugly prayer, oh, I feel the heart of God.

Thank you for being so kind. Um, if that resonated with you or there's a grace or there's something there where you're like, "Oh, I don't know if I've really been that honest with God." Would you stand because I want to pray for you. I just pray. Um, hi God.

Hi. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being real. Thank you for being you. Thank you for not being scared of me. Thank you for not finding me offensive. Thank you that you are the perfect father. You desire connection. You desire connection with me more than me saying the right words.

I thank you for the life of David. This man famous for intimacy. this man known as a man after God's own heart. And I thank you for all the beautiful psalms and prayers. And I thank you for the ugly ones that give permission to find you in the worst places.

I really feel like I'm supposed to prophesy o over someone. You are one ugly prayer away from depression falling off your life. What if you are depressed because you didn't know you have a father that likes you and loves you when you feel like you've got nothing good to say or offer.

Father, I thank you for being that kind of dad to me. Thank you for grabbing a hold of me and loving me and smiling at me when I gave you those ugly prayers. when I knew you deserved better, but I didn't have better. Instead of rejecting me, you drew me close.

You are my great treasure. Thank you for being that good. I pray for everyone standing in the room that they would know that kind of father. And I feel I'm supposed to say this in your ugly prayer. He redefineses his goodness. Thank you, God. God, I pray you'd remove the old religious father in our mind's eye and you'd come as you really are.

Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Please be seated. Um and then I want to pray the second one. And I just I want to pray um just this shameless tenacity to wake God up in the middle of the night, bang on his door, and to refuse to quit on him, to fashion that path of prayer, even when it feels like everything inside of you says the opposite opposite's happening.

If that's you, stand. Stand. I want to pray for you. Father, I thank you for the testimony of my life. I thank you for the grace, the grace to bang on your door at midnight, to risk waking up your kids. And you say, "Jesus, this is how you teach us to pray."

Father, I ask for a tenacity, a boldness. I ask for an unapologetic uh shameless grace to refuse to quit and bang on that door until you get your answer. Some of you, this is weird, some of you have been so desiring friendship, and that's a beautiful desire that you felt disqualified from praying this way.

And God is saying, "Yes, I will give you friendship." But you're you're almost sitting back in the John 15 going, "I'm just waiting in my friendship for this answer." And God's saying, "Oh, some places that's that's beautiful, son. Some places that's beautiful, sweetheart." In this place, this is a a wrapping your knuckles, banging on the door, midnight prayer, refuse to quit kind of breakthrough.

I thank you father for the beautiful journey that you gave me and all the moments and the gradules and the grumblings but I thank you God for seeing your mighty outstretched hand and you answer those prayers and you set that woman free from arthritis. God, I just pray great breakthrough, great breakthrough over those standing that they would refuse to quit.

That they would draw a land, a line in the sand tonight. Draw a line in the sand before the breakthrough and say, "God, if this is how you teach me to pray, I'm coming after you. And I'm waking up your kids as well. Look out. Here I come."

And everyone said, "Amen." Why don't you stand quick? Um, I just want to pray real quick. I pray for I just feel like there's a grace for healing. Um, in the in the sharing of testimonies, I I just feel like I just want to pray. I want you to pray for each other quick.

Um, thank you, Holy Spirit. I feel like the Lord's uh healing backs here. Is there um I know there's going to be people with bad backs, but I feel a real particular Is there someone over here in this area? You've got a lower back. Okay. Yeah, I see you.

I see you. I see you. Oh, yikes. We'll pray for all of you. Uh lower back pain. Um, I you don't have to wave your arms for this, but I we've seen in my family such a breakthrough for women with infertility. Um, so I believe God wants to release babies.

Release babies tonight. I share more testimonies if I had time. Um, let's do it this way. If you have uh pain in your body, uh, just put up your hand. Church, you know what to do. Look for the hands. And I just want you to lay hands on them real quick.

And I just want you to thank God for the testies you've heard tonight and release healing on their bodies right now in Jesus name. Go for it. Our God is healing heart conditions uh heart uh tremors or palpitations. God is healing heart conditions. Thank you, Holy Spirit. That's it.

You can you can pray out loud. I promise you Jesus will love it. Pray out loud. Bang on the door. Thank you, Father. I feel like the Lord is doing something in people's mouths. Uh teeth. Um I feel like I can feel heat and fire on my mouth on my And yeah, God is doing something with people's teeth.

Um yeah, what's that thing where you need a like not a cavity, but remove the whole tooth. Um root canal heal. Somebody's getting healed. Root canals be healed in Jesus' name. New canals. I don't know if that's the right language, but new canals, God, in Jesus' name. Uh um migraines.

Migraines. Uh this house carries such a corporate breakthrough for head trauma and migraines. If you if you have an issue with migraines or you got a migraine right now, just wave fast. And if you're around them, I actually want you to uh put your hands out and just lift that thing off them in Jesus' name.

Come on, church. A little louder. I promise Jesus won't be mad. Pray like you'd want them to pray for you. Wow. Father, we just thank you that you are the healer. Exodus 15. I thank you for that encounter over my life. How you spoke to me and we just release.

It's not what you do, it's who you are. The Exodus 15 healing God in this room in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Test out your bodies. Test out your bodies. If God's starting to heal your body or do something, I really feel the mouth. Uh check out your backs. do something you couldn't do before.

Just have a little wiggle. Lift your knees. If God is is has healed you or is starting to heal you, you're feeling a decrease in pain. Just start waving at me. I just want to see who God's touching in this. Okay, I see you over there. Praise God.

Something's going on in the left corner. That's good. Anyone else? Wave real over there. I see you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Anyone else? Yes, I see you. Thank you. Praise God. Well, we're we're going to wrap the service in a moment. Um, let's just do this cuz I can see I've seen a bunch of hands.

Let's just give God a a shout of praise and thanks for what he started to do. Embody Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for listening. Um, I think we may have a ministry team. Do we have a ministry team? We'll take care of that. If God's healed you, come and grab me and shake me.

If you want healing for anything, uh, and God started healing you, but you want to see the full healing, come to the front and we'll have a team pray for you. God bless you guys. Love you so much. If you're part of the ministry team, please come make your way to the front.

We have lots of visitors. I encourage you that's visiting to come forward to receive prayer. We have a lot of hungry revivalists up front. I want to pray for you. Yeah, I know. Yes. And if you're online, I don't know if you guys cut it already. I just want to bless you this next week in Jesus name.

Have a great week. We love you. We bless you in Jesus name. >> If you are free, just raise your hand here up front. Yeah, you see this hands lifted up. >> Hello. Hello, Bethl online community. Um we're still in the midst of praying for people. And so if you um just heard the words of knowledge that Dave called out, if you're um able to check your bodies, see if God uh is touching you, maybe you've already been healed.

I know he was calling out migraines. He was calling out something with the teeth, right? Wasn't root canals. Yes. So if that's you and you're experiencing any healing, let us know in the chat. We'd love to celebrate what the Lord is doing in you. Um, we'd also love to pray if I know some people are already um, putting their needs in the chat.

You can write to us. We'd love to be praying for you. I think that goes so in line with what Dave was already preaching about is is continuing to knock continuing to pray. Um, I know some people were writing like sometimes it's hard to keep asking for the same thing over and over and and yet the Lord's not bored with our prayers. you know, he's not worried that we've prayed once or twice or 200 times, but we can keep knocking.

Oh, I see someone said, "We had a mouth healed." Thank you, God. If anyone else um is struggling with uh my teeth and gums were healed, thank you, Jesus. If you're struggling and you've got um issues with your teeth or maybe your gums, um we just we're just listening to this testimony as as we speak.

And so, um we just release that right back over you. You can test it. just see if anything's shifting in your body. >> Yeah, it's amazing just seeing people getting healed on the chat. It's awesome. Someone just said they came from surgery on their jaw. Uh but the pain has been decreasing while they've been watching the live.

That is amazing. >> It's our little Zoom way. We're just celebrating God. >> Uh yeah. So, so cool. So, I just I really love what I think was highlighted tonight is not necessarily how well we pray, if we say the right words, if we do the right thing, but God is so faithful in his nature that he's just asking us to come.

He's just asking us to pray. And uh so we just speak over our whole online family the the release of answered prayer. Lord, we ask everyone right now who's listening, who's watching, or who will watch back, we just release the healing power of Jesus. And uh I I also just have this sense that there were maybe some of you who were watching that you've been contending for a miracle for more than 10 years.

Uh if if that's me, I want you to just if that's you, I want you to just type that in the chat. That's me. Uh, and I I just want to begin to pray over you courage to keep going and power to to keep going that today would be a day of breakthrough.

So, uh, yeah, Father, I ask if there's if there's anyone that's been contending for a miracle that needs fresh hope, fresh courage, uh, fresh uh, uh, perspective to keep banging on the door for answered prayer. We just say yes, God. We uh pray release fresh hope over them, over Jillian.

We pray fresh hope, Lord. Fresh courage uh that that you love answering prayer. I' we've heard so many miracles of people who've been in conditions for 30, 40, 50 years and yet the God of the breakthrough came through. If that is you, just begin to open up your hands.

Yeah. >> And Jesus, we ask >> for the persistence, the I don't even know if it's a spirit, but a spirit of persistence to rest upon your people, Lord, that we would not give up in contending for the breakthrough. >> That we would not give up in contending for impossible things to break.

Uh I see someone Yanni 25 years Yanni we bless you in the name of Jesus that you would have the joy of answered prayers over everyone. I know someone who's been contending for something that they've been their whole life and even that they've prayed for people who've had the condition and seen them healed. >> And so Lord, we just pray uh that our online community would be marked by answered prayer over this next season that's been 10, 20, 30 years in Jesus name. >> Yes, God.

And and God, we just um I know some of you are praying for loved ones, whether it's a family member, um whether it's your wife or whoever it is. God, we just we're knocking. We're coming and we're just saying, God, would you come with breakthrough? Would you come with healing? >> Oh, I even just um I even feel like I love what Dylan's saying.

Sometimes we can um have a condition for so long, we actually forget that we're still contending. I know someone wrote on the chat like, "Oh, I forgot that I had this thing." And so, or something. It was something around that that same idea. And so, um Lord, would you would you even just move in such a mighty way, God?

Even those chronic conditions that we've forgotten about, those things that feel like, oh, I I'll just always have this. Oh, I forgot that I have back pain, or I forgot that I have a a lung condition. Whatever that is, God, we just pray that you would come and that you would um you would begin to move in their in their bodies, God, that you would lift off conditions, God, that pain would lift off in Jesus' name. that um you would actually come and bring breakthrough where areas have been almost stagnant where it feels like ah I've been stuck in this place.

I haven't seen a shift that we would begin to see a shift right now in Jesus name. In Jesus name. >> Yes, Lord. Yeah. I also feel like I think there might be someone who I I you've had an issue in your left leg. Uh, I think uh it may have been a bone condition where maybe a bone was broken or something that hasn't healed right that you've been contending for for prayer uh for a very long time.

And I just see God resting on you and I see him bringing breakthrough uh to your left leg in Jesus' name. And I I also saw um God is God so cares about even the little things. I even see things that maybe you thought you didn't even need prayer for, like something little that you've just accepted as part of your your life.

I see God wanting to bring breakthrough to say, "No, my blood and my my stripes paid for every healing. Every healing." So, we just ask God even little things would come into alignment right now in Jesus' name. >> It's so good. Even um Dylan while you were praying I I kept hearing um the words ring ring and I felt like um there have been people who've had hearing issues. you've had either hearing loss or some kind of um uh hearing just I don't know if there's been pain or or anything in your ear and I heard ring ring and I don't know if your phone's going to go off or you're going to hear like something that you haven't been able to hear but I felt like whether it's ringing in the ear um but I just sense right now like ears are going to begin to open.

Um, I saw like even like a popping. Something was going to pop open. You're going to begin to hear in a way that you haven't been able to. And and maybe you even turn your ringer on and say, "God, I'm ready to actually hear the the notification sound or whatever it is, the ring ring."

And so, if that's for you, um, just receive that and and whether you've got a ringing in the ears or if you've got pain in your ears, you've got issues in the ear, Jesus, we just speak a ring ring that people would begin to hear where they haven't been able to hear.

I even feel like there's someone it's been like 12 and a half years and and you haven't been able to hear properly if you've um I don't know if you have a hearing aid or if you've had an issue, but I just feel like a clearing out. So, yeah, test that whatever it looks like um and just begin to see if you can even check a difference in in in the um sound quality or the amount of sound that you've been able to um yeah, just hear. >> Yeah.

I think I also just want to just feel to call some of you out by name and just plead the blood of Jesus. So, >> Michael, Madden, I I plea the blood of Jesus over your mom. >> Uh that uh her knee would be healed. Benjamin, I plea the blood of Jesus over you.

Kenzie, I plea the blood of Jesus over you. Emma, I plead the blood of Jesus over you. Rick, I plea the blood of Jesus over you. Uh Justin, over your finances, I plea the blood of Jesus. >> Uh Fiona, I pray over your right patella and arthritis in the knee. >> I release the healing power of Jesus. >> Yeah. >> Holy Spirit, would you come over Erica? >> We plead the blood of Jesus over you. >> Yeah.

And a daisy. I saw a daisy. God, we just plead the blood of Jesus. Um, you can even just put your hand on your heart and just say, "Jesus, would you cover me with your blood? Would you wash me a new?" >> Yes. >> And God, we just bless them with healing, with life, that they'd experience even a shift in their bodies, just even as we're speaking, whether that's right now live in the moment.

You're watching this back. But God, we just thank you for what you're doing. I just thank you, God, that that pain is being lifted off, that people are experiencing even a shift in their own bodies. Mhm. >> God, we just thank you that the spirit of breakthrough, your Holy Spirit, you are you are moving and you're doing way more than we could ever even think. >> Yeah. >> So, God, we just thank you for that. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, Jesus. >> And uh I just I just want you guys all to know I really felt tonight there was fresh permission >> to seek the face of God for answers.

That he's not looking for perfection. And he's not looking for you to say the right thing or for some magic formula to suddenly appear to get your breakthrough. But there's a fresh invitation. I even feel over myself. >> A fresh invitation to find the face of God in the middle of everything that we're going through that he is not afraid of our pain.

He's not afraid of our disappointment. He's not afraid of our frustration. He would rather be with us in it than not with us at all. That's right. >> So, we love you guys. >> Just want to say again, thank you so much for joining in from all over the world.

Our online family is so special and we treasure the moments we have with you and uh we're praying that this week will be an incredible, incredible week. >> We love you guys.