What’s Really Keeping You Stuck // Pastor Matt Cruz

Such a privilege and an honour to be here today and to preach the last Sunday of the year. So, we're going to punch the devil right in the mouth. Amen. How many want to punch the devil right in the mouth? I want Pastor Vlad and Lana, Pastor Vasiliy, your wife, thank you so much for having me here at Hungry Gen.

For those who don't know, I serve as the young adult pastor here. I moved in June and my life has completely got turned upside down for the better. And it's such a joy to be here and be a part of what the Lord is doing in his house.

And I've been meditating on this message and I believe that the Lord orchestrated everything together for this Sunday and I pray that it will be a blessing to you. If you could turn with me to 1st Samuel chapter 16 verse 23. I want to begin reading in just a moment.

But I want to say this, feeling better is not the same as being free. There's a difference and I feel like the Lord put this in my spirit today to share. And I trust that the Holy Spirit will give you language for it. I want to begin reading in 1st Samuel 16:23.

It says, "Whenever the tormenting spirit troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better and the tormenting spirit would go away." Let's pray. Holy Spirit, I thank you that you're already here doing great things. I thank you for your strength in my vocal cords. I thank you for this precious group of people, arrest their attention and may the truth of your word be preached with power and authority, with clarity and with accuracy, with love and compassion in Jesus name and everyone says, "Amen."

The Bible says that David would play the harp for King Saul. And when he did, Saul would feel relief. But the problem was that Saul was never delivered. Relief without freedom is not deliverance. If I could title the message anything today, it would be that from Relief to Freedom.

Saul experienced relief, but he never experienced freedom. He felt better, but he never got free. And the Bible says, as I read that verse, David's worship soothed Saul's torment, but it never healed his heart. And I feel like the Lord is saying today, that's how many believers are living.

We love moments that make us feel better, but we avoid what would actually make us free. Saul wanted relief without submission. He wanted comfort without change. That sounds a lot like the American church. But feeling better is not the same as being free. You can be soothed and still be bound.

Can we be real today? You know, recently the Lord showed me something. I wasn't feeling well and I woke up one morning and my mom said there was a plate of French toast sticks. How many love French toast? Glory to God. She said, "There's some there's a plate of food here, and there's Aleve pill on the top of the plate.

Take this Aleve pill." Anybody know what Aleve is? It's like ibuprofen. So, I've been on this journey lately of wanting to take organic things. So, I'm thinking to myself, I don't want to just suppress what I'm feeling. I want to get to the source. I want to strengthen my immune system.

So, I had purchased this bottle of, it's called sufficient C and it's like a high dose of vitamin C and I wanted to take a scoop of it. So I looked up what does Aleve do for me that this vitamin C won't do. And I felt the Holy Spirit show me something when I looked it up.

Essentially Aleve makes you feel better, Vitamin C helps you get better. Aleve numbs the pain and the symptoms, but it's the vitamin C that strengthens your system. It's what goes directly to the root. And I feel like the Lord is saying that there are many Christians today who are living on spiritual Aleve.

Many don't want healing. They just want numbing. They don't really want freedom. They want relief. But if we can be honest today, there's a difference between relief and freedom. Too many are managing symptoms instead of confronting roots. And I want to encourage us today with this. Do not focus on the symptom.

Focus on the root. I feel like the Lord is trying to help somebody today that if you do not deal with the root, the symptom will keep coming back. What are you saying, Matt? It's not just anger, it's unresolved hurt and unforgiveness in your heart. It's not just lust, what it is is a hunger for intimacy and affirmation that was never healed.

It's it's not just anxiety the symptom that you're dealing with, it's fear and control fighting for Lordship instead of trust in Jesus. It's not insecurity that you're dealing with, that's the symptom. But the root is the identity being rooted in performance instead of sonship. Are you following along today?

It's not just addiction, that's the symptom. But the root is pain looking for relief and healing. It's not comparison in your life, it's a lack of contentment and gratitude. It's not bitterness, it's disappointment that was never processed with God. He does not want you and I to manage the symptoms.

He wants to get to the root of the issue and he wants to set you free. Come on. How many know Jesus came to set us free? Not just for relief, but for liberation. Somebody say, "Amen." It's not just people pleasing, it's the fear of rejection ruling your heart.

It's not just distraction, it's the avoidance of what God is calling you to face. It's not exhaustion that you're feeling, it's living from striving instead of surrender. It's not even rebellion, it's unsubmitted areas that want control. Many of us deal with cycles, but the root is that doors were never closed.

And you can manage symptoms for years and still never heal the wound. And I feel in my heart to say this consumer-driven gospel that has crept into the American church for many years. It has taught us to stay comfortable in pain instead of confronting what caused it. And we've been taught for so many years in the western church on how to manage anger and manage anxiety and manage addiction and manage brokenness, but not always how to let Jesus deal with the root and the wound beneath the surface and and not allow true deliverance to take place in our life.

Can I say today that symptom management keeps you functioning, but it's deliverance that makes you free. It's deliverance that liberates you. Relief numbs the pain like that Aleve pill, but deliverance removes the source. Jesus did not come for us to be better at managing brokenness. He came so that we could become whole.

He came so that we can experience true freedom and have a life and life more abundantly. Amen. We need to deal with the root. Help us, Lord, to deal with the root. For too long, much of the American church has been neutralized, meaning we've become in some ways sedated, softened, as Pastor Vlad says, 'spiritually domesticated'.

And that's what neutrality is. It's it means the urgency was numbed. Somewhere along the line, the the boldness was diluted. In fact, Leonard Ravenhill, a great revivalist who lived many years ago, he said these words, "In many churches, Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison, it would not hurt anyone.

And if it were medicine, it would not cure anyone." That's what neutralized Christianity is. It settles for relief instead of freedom. And a lot of believers today, they're great at gathering crowds, but not so great at making disciples. They're great at speaking about God, but not demonstrating God.

The Bible says, "The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power." Are you with me today? Leonard Ravenhill also said, "The world out there is not looking for a new definition of Christianity. They're looking for a new demonstration of Christianity." We are called to demonstrate the power and the love of God.

And I don't want to have a neutral faith. I don't want to go into 2026 with neutrality because neutralized Christianity is Christianity without confrontation. It's Christianity without holiness. It's Christianity without repentance. It's a Christianity that preaches messages that cause you to feel good. And it suggests that following Jesus is about personal gain rather than surrendering under his Lordship.

It's about what God can do for you right now rather than how he desires to change you from the inside out. That is a transactional gospel, not a transformational gospel. Come on. I want to confront this today. We are in a church that preaches the uncompromising gospel of Jesus Christ.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be neutral with the devil. I don't want to be in the grey area with the devil. I don't want to be neutral in my prayer life, neutral in my devotion life. I need the fire of God on the altar.

I need the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. I don't want a gospel that is about self-improvement instead of self-denial. I don't want to preach messages in 2026 that is about my preferences instead of His Presence. I don't want to preach how to unlock your potential instead of lay down your life.

Come on. I want to get to the root of the issue and I want people to leave with true freedom and liberation. Somebody say amen. Christianity is not about becoming a better version of you. It's about becoming a more accurate reflection of Him. I don't want to look more like me, I'll become worse.

When you try to look like you, you will become worse. But when you try to look more like Him, then and only then will you be just like Him. It's all about being conformed into the image of Christ, taking up your cross daily. Jesus says, "Those who desire to follow after me must deny themselves, take up the cross daily, and follow me."

We've got to choose Jesus. We've got to choose righteousness. Romans tells us to put to death what is earthly in you. Put it to death. A man of God by the name of Oswald Chambers said these words, "If I do not put to death the things in me which are not of God, they will put to death the things that are of God."

Paul explains why this happens in Galatians 5:16. He says, "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves." The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the spirit wants. And the spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires.

These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. But how many know that the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in your life?

Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Bible says, there is no law against these things. We, who belong to Christ Jesus, we nailed our passions and desires of our sinful nature to His cross and crucified it there. This is what verse 24 says. We must crucify our passions and our desires and we must come alive in Christ and walk this thing out.

How many you want to apply the word of God to your life like never before in 2026? I don't know if they have a chart. If you could put it up. I came across this chart a while ago and I added it to this sermon. What you feed is what you become.

If you look at a carrot, if you slice a piece of it, it's shaped just like a pupil because it's good for your vision. If you eat a lot of walnuts, if you actually look, it's double-sided. One side is shaped like your brain because it's good for your brain.

It's good for your memory. The other side shaped like your heart because it's good for your heart. Grapes, that part got left out, but it's good for your lungs. Somebody say, "Amen." tomatoes, good for your heart. ginger the way that it is shaped is the way that's what targets the area in your life.

Now, I don't believe that's by accident. I believe that is by God's design. That you are what you eat. Amen. And what you consistently take in is what you eventually become. What you feed determines what strengthens you. Every day is an opportunity to either strengthen your relationship with God or neglect it.

So your rate of growth, my rate of growth is determined by what we feed our spirit. Every day you're either leaning more toward God or you're drifting away from God. You're drifting away from your devotion life. But friend, what you feed is what will grow in your life.

Your spirit is like a garden. What you feed will grow. Are you with me? May we feed ourselves with the word of God. Pastor Vlad, you said this one day, if you don't feel like reading, force yourself to read the word, force feed yourself. If that is true naturally, it's absolutely true spiritually.

You cannot feed on junk food and expect good health. You cannot starve your spirit and then wonder why you're weak spiritually. If you feed fear and lust and bitterness, if you feed offense or comfort, don't be surprised when your life reflects that. What you feed is what you become.

And we've got to feed ourselves the word of God. We've got to get this thing in us. This word is so powerful. This is why the Bible says the grass withers, the flowers fade, but it's the word of God that stands forever. This word, when you open it, it begins to open you.

When you read it, it begins to read you. It's alive and active. That's why you can read one passage and and you can get something fresh and something new over and over and over again. Why? Because it's alive and active. And this is why people speak against this word because it speaks against their lifestyle.

The most hated book yet the most sold book. It's banned in over 50 countries. This book is alive. 66 books written by different authors who lived at different times. Yet it still points to the same man, Jesus Christ. It's aligned perfectly. And we've got to feed ourselves with the word of God.

Often times we think that we need to feel like reading to read. We need to feel like praying to praying. To pray. But I want to tell you today that faith does not start with the feeling. Faith starts with a decision. Sometimes you don't need to, actually all of the time, you don't need to feel a certain fire or stirring in your spirit just to pray or read the word of God.

I believe that as you discipline yourself to read the Bible, discipline yourself to pray and get in the into the presence of God, that's what creates the desire to be with God. I believe that discipline precedes desire. I believe that obedience precedes desire. When you consistently spend time in the presence of God and in the word of God, all of a sudden it creates the desire to be with God.

Are you with me today? So, I want to encourage us that we've got to renew our mind. Romans 12 says, "Do not be conformed by the pattern of the world, but be transformed by what? The renewing of your mind." We have to constantly renew our mind. Not everything is a demon.

You just got to renew your mind. But some stuff, it is demonic, and there's influence there, and I'll get into that in just a moment. But we've got to get to the root of the issue. Saul was relieved, but he did not get free. He was soothed, but he did not get liberated.

And God wants to liberate us today. I believe that while the enemy can't touch our spirit, we can he can still have ground in our soul. Can I be real for a second? Ephesians 4:27 says, "Don't give place to the devil." That word place in the Greek means ground or territory.

For a long time, I was in the grey area when it came to deliverance. I believed in it, grew up around it. I would grow up, Pastor Vlad, coming home to my dad casting demons out of a 5-year-old boy. Some of you would, you're probably thinking that's not possible.

Well, let me let me say I saw quite a few things. This boy was causing havoc in his parents' marriage. He would run around the church naked. They would get oil and he would yell, "Not the oil" to his mom, as my dad was praying for him, I came home from work one day to this.

And his mom was like, "That's not my son. That's not my son." And my dad said he felt like he was wrestling with someone with grown man strength. I grew up around this family gatherings. They would tell the kids to go in the other room and they would pray deliverance over family members that were manifesting.

But then some years ago, I found myself in the grey area where I didn't deny deliverance. I did not not believe in deliverance, but I didn't pursue it. I I got turned off by it, if I can be super transparent. And then there came a moment where I experienced my own deliverance.

Bizarre feeling. I never went through a session like this in my life. Before this moment, I wasn't seeing many demons manifest in meetings I would preach in. I would be effective and sing healing and people get baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. I would preach messages and that I believe by God's grace would be effective and people would experience the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.

But not many demons would manifest. But after this session that I went through every meeting, people throwing up, people screaming, demons coming out of people. Now, to the non-spiritual person or maybe to the over spiritual person, they say they're turned off by that stuff. And I was in the grey area, but why all of a sudden are these things happening after I experienced my own freedom?

I was dealing with intrusive thoughts for years. I mean, it would be so overwhelming in my mind. And I'm like, God, why am I experiencing this? And after I went through this session, all of a sudden, the first meeting I preached in Bakersfield, California, freedom is happening at the altar.

After that service, I went straight to the airport to take an overnight flight to stand up in a friend's wedding. Do you want to know what happened? I'm going to tell you. I'm on the plane. This tall man sitting in the window seat. Now, I'm just trying to sleep and and no one bother me.

And all of a sudden, I get startled and I wake up to this tall man in the middle seat slamming his head into the table tray in front of him. He threw his whole head, his wrist, now I'm going to share this and you could take it for what it is.

But his wrist curled up, his neck is moving around. He's getting in this lady's face who's sitting in the window seat. She's nearly standing up on her chair. I didn't know whether I should sock the guy in the face or what, but I thought to myself, now I don't know if that was a demon, but he looked like a demon. 10 years of traveling, this has never happened to me before.

And all of a sudden, I experienced freedom and this happens. It's because when I was in the grey area, I wasn't a threat to the devil. But when I experience deliverance for myself, now I'm on hell's radar. Deliverance must happen first in the believer, in the minister, if it is to flow through the minister.

The demonic realm recognizes authority. It recognizes authenticity. And when, if you experience freedom for yourself, the devil looks at you and says, "Ah, he sees now, she sees now." They get it and he gets very upset and he tries to cause havoc in your life. Are you on hell's radar?

I don't want to preach cute messages. I don't want a neutral faith. The devil is fine with me preaching on comfort as long as I don't preach on confrontation. He's okay with me coming to church as long as I don't look more like Jesus. He's not afraid of you sitting where you're sitting.

He's afraid when you start to embody the character and the nature of Christ. We've got to look more like Him. We've got to experience true liberation. If if I'm going to be effective in my calling, I need to get to the root of issues and I need to say, "God, liberate me."

I want to shout it from the rooftops. Come on. I got nothing to hide. I'm free. I'm liberated. And you can be, too. Something shifts, something happens when you experience freedom. When you get to the root of issues, deliverance is like being in a boat filling with water.

You can grab a bucket and work hard and lose your voice trying to get that water out of the boat. But hear me today, the water is not the problem, the hole is. And until that hole is plugged, the water will continue to come back no matter how hard you try to get it out.

Those are strongholds. Behaviour is not the root. There's a stronghold. There's demonic influence in your life. And I believe once deliverance becomes real to you, something begins to shift in your life and in your ministry. Hear me today. This is one of the most hotly debated topics in the church.

Can a Christian have a demon? Now, we're at Hungry Gen. You know, we believe in deliverance here. It's one of our core values. If they didn't tell you, now you know. Deliverance is essential. Demons coming out is a good thing. Are you with me today? This is important to know.

A Christian can have anything they want to have. As Pastor Vlad says, a Christian can have a demon, but a demon can't have a Christian because they don't own us. We're owned by Jesus. Salvation deals with your ownership. Deliverance deals with your occupancy. There are areas in your soul.

If you look at the temple in Jerusalem, you got the outer courts, the inner courts, the holy of holies. In the outer courts, there was there was merchants and thieves and Jesus drove them out. This is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The outer courts is your soul.

The devil can have a ground. Your spirit is sealed unto God until the day of redemption. As scripture says, the devil can't touch your spirit, but your soul, your mind, your will, and your emotions is vulnerable to evil forces. And that's why we experience things in our life because the devil has real estate in our soul.

He's got ground. He's got access. The problem is not ownership. The problem is influence and access. The torment meant he had access. But the deliverance meant that access was broken. See, before deliverance, the enemy had a voice in my life. After deliverance, all he has is a whisper.

And even the whisper doesn't carry any power to it. Come on. And see, temptation is only a suggestion. Now all he has is a suggestion. And discipleship teaches you how to shut down the suggestion. Are you with me today? So we need freedom. We need not relief but liberation.

The enemy doesn't fight what doesn't threaten him. And I believe when believers hear me today from my heart, when we avoid freedom, when we avoid liberation out of fear, ignorance, pride, what happens is we become spiritually neutralized. And again, the devil's fine with you going through the emotions as long as you don't experience with me, say, neutrality is not an option.

We're not called to a neutral faith. You and I are not called to a self-centred Christianity. In 2026, I don't want a Christianity that'll make me feel better, I want a Christianity that'll make me look like Him. I don't want to be neutral with, you know what? This ought to punch the devil in the eye.

He's not neutral about attacking you, you can't be neutral about standing on the word of God. He's not neutral with attacking your health, you can't be neutral about declaring the promises of God. He's not neutral about tempting your purity, you can't be neutral about guarding it. He's not neutral about whispering lies in your mind, you cannot be neutral about declaring the truth of the word of God.

He's not neutral about distracting your calling, you cannot be neutral about staying focused. Come on, somebody. He's not neutral about silencing your voice, you cannot be neutral about opening your mouth. It's time to not be neutral with the devil and stop letting him rob your peace. Come on, stand on the word of God.

He's not neutral about reminding you of your past, so don't be neutral about walking in your new identity. I don't want a fake Jesus in my life. People are preaching a fake Jesus. See, the fake Jesus comforts you in your sin, but the real Jesus confronts your sin.

I want to preach the living Jesus of the Bible. And I want to experience the power of this Jesus. I need Him to come in my life. I don't need a TED talk. I need deliverance. Come on. I don't need coping strategies. I need the anointing that destroys yolks.

And I believe that this church that God is raising up and this generation that God is raising up is done with motivational sermons. They're done with five points and how I can live a better life, how I can be motivated. And listen, I'm about that stuff, but I need the anointing.

I need freedom in my life. I don't want to look free but not live free. I need the anointing. I need the oil. I don't want to sit in church every Sunday and still be bound. I don't want to settle for relief in my life. If the devil has declared war, I'm coming not with neutrality, I'm coming with the power of the Word of God.

If he's coming with accusations, come on, I'm coming with the Blood. If he's coming with fear, I'm coming with Faith. If he's coming with discouragement, I'm going to come with Encouragement. Come on. It's time to rise up in 2026. I came with my own. Amen. Praise God. All the way from Pasco on Court Street.

Praise God. I'm telling you today, don't be neutral with the devil. Neutrality is agreement. Silence is consent. Tolerance is permission. Hear me today. And I refuse to agree with hell. I refuse to consent to defeat. I refuse to tolerate darkness. I refuse to be neutral anymore. I'm no longer in the grey area.

And neither should you. We've got to confront the devil. The Bible says that when demons begin to manifest, that's how you know the Kingdom of God has come upon a place. And the kingdom will not be advanced by our churches being filled with people, but rather the people in our churches being filled with God.

We need God. We need the Holy Spirit. Amen. This generation's hungry. They're hungry. So Saul, I'm hungry, too, was never delivered. Feeling better is not the same as being free. That Aleve pill or the vitamin C? Tacos. No, we're always going to choose tacos. Praise God for El Pastor.

I feel the Lord Red 40, put that chart up again or ginger. Praise God. I got all of them in my pocket. Are you going to choose gummy worms or carrots? I don't know. It's between you and the Lord. But what you feed is what you become. You are what you eat.

And 2026, may I encourage us with this today? May we be so on fire and a flame of the Lord. May we cultivate this fire of first love in our hearts that when the enemy comes, it'll only be a suggestion and we can shut that down by the power of the Word of God.

May you be so on fire. In fact, my prayer for us this morning in the last Sunday of the year is that we would have such a Holy desire for the Word of God that we would not read it out of obligation, but we would read it out of adoration.

We would not read it just to check it off like a chore, like a list of the Christian faith, but we would get into the word because we want to know the author. What do they say? This is the only love letter where the author is in love with the reader.

May you come to know Jesus, not about Jesus. May you come to know him for who He is. Friend, when you see Him, you can't stay the same. Isaiah said, "I saw the Lord high and lifted up and I was ruined." He said, "I'm undone." 2026, we cannot have a neutral faith. 2026, we cannot be in the grey area any longer. 2026, it's time to not have relief in your life any longer, but true freedom. 2026, God is wanting to liberate you.

He's wanting to break the chains that the devil has had on you, hindering your faith. Let me ask you this question today. What needs to be trampled out of you? What is keeping revival out of you? What needs to be washed out of you? Let the Holy Spirit examine you right now as I'm ministering and let him open the door of your heart and take an inventory of your spiritual condition.

How much fuel is still left? Where are you at in your walk with Jesus? Is there fire on the altar? Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, he said, 'Go back. This is what I have against you. You forgot what you did at first. Go back to what you were doing in the beginning.

That is the fire of first love. Some of us today, we don't need just another message. We need a flashback of what God has done for us in the past. And when you remember what He did for you in the past, that is an indication that you can trust Him with your future.

I don't know who this is for today, but God's track record is amazing. It is flawless. And all you have to do is get a flashback. Do you remember that day where the Holy Spirit came upon you and you received power? Do you remember that day where God saved you, healed you, pulled you out of the miry clay and set your feet on the solid rock?

Do you remember that day where God initially spoke to you for the first time? Do you remember that day God healed you from that disease and protected you from that car accident and and and He kept you from that hurt and that pain and the devil trying to take you out?

We need a flashback. That's how we keep the fire of first love burning. Are you with me today? David's worship soothed Saul's torment, but it never healed his heart. What you're dealing with today is not a symptom, there's a root. And whatever it is, let the Holy Spirit shine a light on that area and let them deal with it.

It's pride in believers, where we want to avoid deliverance and we want to avoid what we really need. No, don't preach on that. Can't tell you, pastor, how many places I've gone to. I think most of the time they know who they're, you know, bringing before they come.

But I've heard some things, don't preach on this. Now, we're a little bit more conservative in this area. And listen, when I preach, I come under that authority of the house. Praise God. I believe in excellence and order. But listen, when you preach from the very words of God, Billy Graham said, He will take those words and He will drive it supernaturally into the human heart.

We need the uncompromising gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a hurting world out there and you have the truth on the inside of you. You are the hope that they are looking for. A city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. Nobody puts a basket over a lampstand.

Come on. You've got to take that thing off so it can have light to everyone in the house. God is calling you to be a light in your sphere of influence. God is calling you to be a light in your workplace, in your family, in your neighbourhood. But you got to walk this thing out.

Listen, people who do not know God, but know you. They can come to know God because they know you. Why? Because you are walking out the Word of God. The Bible says that we are living epistles, read and known among all men. Friend, you are the 67th book of the Bible.

Let's walk this thing out 2026. Don't have a neutral faith. Don't be in the grey area. Let's rise up. Step forward in our faith. Put our shoulders back and say, "Devil, you are defeated. You will not have my family. You will not have my health. You will not have my mind.

You will not have my ministry. You will not have my finances. I'm done. I'm going to put you in the corner and I'm going to take your snacks." Amen. Come on. You're going to look at my life and God is going to get the Glory. I'm done letting the devil beat me up.

I'm done letting the devil steal my lunch money, steal my joy, my peace, my strength. I'm done living a defeated life. I need the power of God. I've got nothing to hide. I want to shout it from the rooftops. Don't settle for relief. Settle for freedom. Settle for freedom.

Let the Lord get to the root of what you're dealing with today. Help us, Jesus. If you're here today as I begin to close and you feel in your heart, this message was for me. I'm not where I need to be with Jesus. Or maybe you're walking with him, but you've lost that fire, it is that light has dimmed.

You've lost your passion. You've lost the joy. You've lost that desire for the things of God. He wants to restore it to you today. And He wants to set you ablaze. He wants to set a fire in your soul that you cannot contain nor you can control. That when you leave, you will have a burning desire in your heart for greater intimacy with God.

That when you leave, you will have a greater hunger for the Word of God. That you will not just open it and the devil cause you to yawn and want to scroll for hours. That's your flesh talking. But when you begin to push it back and and push forward and not let your flesh cause you to stay stuck, all of a sudden you experience breakthrough and fullness of joy.

In His presence is the fullness of joy. Friend, you can get there when you move past the flesh. Pray until you get there. Many of us are praying 10-cent prayers and expecting million-dollar answers. We've got to press in. Amen. Would you rise your feet in this moment? I want to pray for us that God would release a fresh fire of First love.

He would release a Holy hunger and desire for the things of God. If you lift up your hands in this moment, I want to give an opportunity for those who've never said yes to Jesus. Or maybe you need to rededicate. This is your moment. Tomorrow's not promised to no man.

You've been bought with a price. You are not your own. Jesus paid a high price for you. And he did not die for you to experience just relief and manage symptoms. But he died to make you whole. As your hands are lifted in a sign of surrender, Holy Spirit, I thank you for my friends today, this precious group of people.

I ask that you would stir our hearts toward your word. Put your finger on the root causes in our life and help us Lord, to lean in, yield our life to your spirit and experience true liberation. I speak Lord breakthrough in freedom over those who are bound today.

I speak transformation in their heart and in their mind. I speak right now in Jesus name for the power of the Holy Spirit to rest upon you and for the fire of heaven to begin burning in your life right now. If you're here today and you say, "I've never given my life to Jesus, but I want to walk into this glorious relationship with Him and I want to know His ways and I want to apply His word to my life."

Or maybe you used to walk with God and you went astray and today you feel a fire burning in you. You feel the Holy Spirit tugging your heart. This is your moment to say yes to Him, to rededicate your life to Him. If that is you, I want you to raise your hand high above your head.

Put the devil to shame. Come on, let's be bold today and and lift those hands up. I see those hands. I see those hands. If that's you and your hand was raised, I want you to take a step of faith, be bold and not ashamed, and meet me at the altar right now.

I want to shake your hand and pray for you. Come, come. There's room for you. If you've never said yes to Jesus or you want to rededicate, re-enlist to the army of God today. You say, "I want to have fire on the altar." God bless you, brother. Come.

God bless you, brother. Anyone else? This is your moment. There's room for you at the altar. Come on, brother. God bless you. God bless you. The pulpit is meant to pull people from the pit. And the altar is meant to alter your life like you would alter clothing.

It's where you cut things off and you lay down idols and you lay down your old ways and you allow the Holy Spirit to come in and to clean house. If there are areas in your soul where the enemy has real estate and access and influence, today's the day you can allow Him to come in and deal with that route.

Would you lift up your hands like this? And I'm going to pray a prayer. We're all going to pray this together for the benefit of you saying yes to Jesus today, the greatest joy you could ever experience. Won't you stretch your hands to them and let's all say this together, church?

Say, Jesus. Say it with your whole heart. Say, I confess with my mouth, I confess with my mouth and I believe in my heart, I believe with my heart that You are Lord and that God raised You from the dead. God raised You from the dead. I repent of every sin, I repent of every sin.

And I receive your forgiveness, I receive your forgiveness. Wash me today. I commit myself, I commit myself, to follow you, to follow you, to love you, to love you, to serve you all the days of my life, all the days of my life in Jesus name. Amen. Won't you give God some praise?