everybody thank you for those that are

joining With Us online from all over the

world we we do believe I do believe in

my heart that we’re entering perhaps one

of the one of the maybe greatest seasons

in the in the history of the Christian

church in this world

now some of you look at me and say like

on what basis are you going to be able

to say that you don’t know my life you

don’t know my situation no it’s true I

don’t not in every case but I do know

the god that you serve

I do know that he is for you and not

against you I do know that he has all

power and all authority and that there’s

nothing come your that has come your way

that he has not conquered when he went

to the cross and Rose on the third day

from the dead he ever sits in Heavenly

places and he makes intercession for you

and I want to talk about I want to talk

about the fact that it’s time

to believe that God is for us

it’s time to put away the thoughts that

God is against us or God is somehow

displeased in our weaknesses

and to finally understand

that he is for us now the Bible says

that faith comes by hearing and hearing

by the word of God now some people

believe that the more scripture I learn

the more faith I will have there’s there

is a measure of Truth in that but it’s

not when we learn scripture when we come

to the word of God we’re not just

learning about what God can do but we’re

learning more importantly who he is and

the fact that his heart is for us and

not against us all of his power is being

displayed

as we come to him with whatever

struggles and trials we might have

whatever condition we find ourselves in

in the gospel of Matthew chapter 8 I

want to start there and it’s a season

where the disciples in chapter 8 verse

23

followed him into a boat to cross over

his seed

in verse 24 of Matthew chapter 8 it says

suddenly a great Tempest a storm arose

on the sea so that the boat was covered

with waves but he was asleep

then his disciples came to him and woke

him saying Lord save us we’re perishing

but he said to them why are you fearful

or you have little faith and he arose

and rebuked the winds and the Sea and

there was a great calm I believe in my

heart that it stopped everything stopped

at me it wasn’t a gradual calm it was a

from from a storm that threatened to

drown these men who were familiar with

the sea it was a storm bigger than they

could handle just like maybe some of you

here today you’re you feel like you’re

in a storm that’s bigger than something

you can handle

and in the midst of this storm he speaks

to it and there’s an I believe immediate

calm the the sea was probably as calm as

a as a pane of glass

a great calm the scripture says so that

the men marveled

and saying who can this be that even the

winds and the Sea obey him I like

another translation it says what kind of

a man is this that even the winds and

the Seas obey him now up to this point

in their Journey with him they they

understood that he could heal and

mostly the gospel of Matthew to the

point of chapter 8 is a teaching part of

of Matthew’s uh recounting of the Life

of Christ

but in Matthew chapter 8 they saw him

heal a leper they saw that he was

willing to touch a man that nobody else

in society was willing to touch and take

his uncleanness upon himself and bring

healing into his life

they saw that his word had power the

Centurion came to him said my servant is

sick and they saw that the word of

Christ had power to to travel to

somebody’s home and bring healing

without him even being there and they

saw him heal Peter’s mother who was sick

with a fever so much so that not just

what she made well but she was able to

get up and serve those that were in her

house

the scripture goes on to tell us in the

evening people were a demon-possessed

were brought to him he cast out the

spirits with just a word and he healed

all not just some who were sick now he

they understood all of these things but

now he was going to take them to a whole

new place and in this new place I

believe we see something of the heart of

God for you for me for all of humankind

he got into the boat and a great storm

arose and the disciples

there it was a prayer but it wasn’t much

of a prayer he looked like he was asleep

he wasn’t he was just completely at rest

he is in charge of all things everything

is is under the word of his power he was

totally confident in the journey and was

hoping they would become that way too

did you know that that’s the way it is

with you today that Christ knows where

you’re going he’s got you in the palm of

his hand you might be in a storm it

looks like your boat is going to go down

looks like your mind is going to be

overcome but you won’t be and and just

like with the disciples you’re crying

out say Lord what is wrong with you do

you not care another Desi another

version of this now the gospel says Lord

do you not care that we are perishing

you know there’s we can end up with

prayers like that say God do you not see

my situation don’t you know what I’m

going through don’t you know a hard my

life has become in my situation is is

overpowering me

and so even in response in response to

what I don’t consider a prayer of faith

it’s almost like a veiled accusation

Lord Lord where are you what are you

doing in response sometimes our prayers

are like that right God where are you

you know it’s not exactly a prayer of

faith uh but it’s we at least

acknowledge that he’s we know that he

exists and we know he’s supposed to be

in our lives and it appears that he’s

asleep in our storm he doesn’t it

appears sometimes that he doesn’t care

but we cry out and say where are you and

he arises and says why are you fearful

when did you stop believing that I had

you in the palm of my hand when did you

stop believing that when I said to you

we’re going to the other side that we’re

going to go to the other side

how did you let this unbelief get a hold

of your heart but even then in the midst

of this he stands and brings their

understanding of him to a whole new

place that he has not only power over

demons and diseases and such like things

he has power over nature he has power

over the elements and he stands and

speaks to the wind and it stops and he

speaks to the waves and there’s an

immediate and a great calm what kind of

a man is this they said what kind of a

man is this you know suddenly as we

begin to study the scriptures we we

start to understand something about the

heart of God he could have easily just

got up and just simply rebuked them and

gone back to sleep

but instead of just rebuking his

disciples he speaks to their storm and

brings it to a close and in a sense he’s

showing us that I’m not offended by your

questions I’m not offended by your

struggles I’m not going to draw back

because even of your accusations against

my faithfulness will not cause me to

draw back from you

and in the scriptures

we see something about the heart of the

Son of God what an amazing heart he has

if our friends accused us of the things

that we accuse God of we probably

wouldn’t have any friends left at a

certain point people would draw back

you’re five minutes late don’t you care

where have you been you know if you

lived like that in relationship with

other people they would just say oh

enough of that I’m not I’m not hanging

out with this person anymore but not

Jesus but not Jesus he is touched with

the feelings of our infirmities the

scripture says and he tells us in our

times of need that we can boldly come to

the throne of God to find Grace to help

in our time of need boldly not because

we have it all together boldly not

because we’ve done it all right or built

this great resume of Faith boldly just

because he is who he is

just because he loves us just because

he’s for us just because he understands

our struggles and our trials the

scripture says he was touched in all

points like as we are

he went through all the tests in in some

degree that we go through yet without

sin it wasn’t his first miracle over

nature

but in it we see his heart for his

disciples and that’s what I want to

convey today for whoever’s out there

online and the best prayer you can

muster is God where are you

you know sometimes he’ll get up and do

what he needs to do for you just to show

you that where he is and especially in

his heart towards you I’m going to go

through this quickly but in the book of

Second Kings there was a king of Judah

called Hezekiah a word was given him

from a prophet of God that he was he was

going to die

uh prophet of God Isaiah said set your

house in order you’re going to die and

you’re not going to live but he turned

his face toward the wall and he began to

pray and said God I’ve walked before you

in truth and with a loyal heart and I’ve

done what was good in your sight now

that’s not exactly totally honest nobody

can make that boast nobody can honestly

say I walk before you in truth I mean

that’s a pretty arrogant prayer in my

opinion we’ve all fallen short in

somewhere in our lives in our minds and

our hearts I’ve walked before you with a

loyal heart and I’ve done what is good

in your sight well some of it maybe but

possibly not all of it

and he wept bitterly and his prayer was

God let me live

God let me live and I know some who are

in this Sanctuary you’re going home for

this season you’ve you’ve been traveling

home and you’re you’re your prayer is is

God I want to live I’m going into a

storm I’m going into a family situation

I’m I’m going into the holiday season

that everybody says it’s supposed to be

such a joyous time but it’s not joyous

for me it’s not joyous in my in my heart

it’s not joyous in my home I know I’m

going into a storm God I’m going to need

you you’re going to have to be there for

me

and this man has a car and he just said

God I I want to live I want to live and

so even before Isaiah had left the outer

Court of that particular residence the

word of the Lord came to him and said go

back to him and say these things I’ve

heard your prayer I’ve seen your tears

and I’m going to heal you and on the

third day you’re going to go up again

into the house of the Lord and I will

add to your days 15 years and I will

deliver you in this city from the hand

of the king of Assyria and I will even

defend the city for my own sake and the

sake of my servant David so not just am

I going to let you live I’m going to

defend the city that you’re in I’m going

to fight for you there’s going to be

victories that you didn’t even pray

about this but I’m going to throw in the

next it’s like the bonus points in the

contest you know I’m I’m going you won

the prize but I’m going to give you this

extra thing just in addition because you

turn to me

and now Hezekiah says something to

Isaiah which is very unusually he says

what is the sign that the Lord will heal

me

and I’ll go up to the house of the Lord

the third day now God could have been

offended at this if God speaks to our

heart he doesn’t have to give us a sign

if I was God I would have said to

Hezekiah the sign is that you will be in

the house of the Lord in three days and

you’ll be healed that should be good

enough for you but the fact we what we

begin to see in the scriptures is the

heart of God that is for us the heart he

could easily be offended by the

disciples in the boat who should have

known at least in some measure by this

point who he was instead of saying what

kind of a man is this and here is

Hezekiah has been given a word from God

and in the midst of that word he now

seeks a sign that God spoken the truth I

mean that could be an offense to God you

know give me a sign that what you’ve

said Is is true instead of being

offended the Lord speaks to Isaiah who

speaks back to Hezekiah and says is it

enough do you want the shadow of the

Sundial to go forward 10 degrees or

backwards 10 degrees now 10 degrees is

20 minutes so in other words you want

time to advance 20 minutes or do you

want time to go backwards 20 minutes

and this is God responding to a prayer

that’s not a prayer of faith you

understand this is not a prayer of faith

this is a it’s an honest prayer but it

doesn’t have much faith in it it’s a

prayer that seeks a sign from God this

is where when I’m trying to convey to

you is the heart of God

is in the scripture when you see his

heart it becomes so much easier to

believe you can’t believe God until you

know his heart

otherwise it becomes just a pile of

scriptures that you’re quoting back at

him but you can’t believe

in anybody until you know what their

heart is towards you and so here is the

Lord

saying back to this man who’s just said

Give Me A Sign and and Hezekiah says

well it’s an easy thing for time to go

forward because in 20 minutes it will be

20 minutes forward time just naturally

progresses forward but it’s impossible

for time to go backwards

essentially so he says give me the sign

of turning the Sundial backwards in

other words turn time back for 20

minutes

phenomenal what God would do for a

prayer that doesn’t even have faith in

it there’s no there’s no faith in his

prayer at this point he’s just saying I

want to sign

so God says he says it’s an easy thing

that for time to go forward but

impossible for it to go backwards so if

you turn time backwards 20 minutes then

I will I will believe the word you said

that I’m going to be healed

and this the shadow of the Sundial the

scripture says went back 10 degrees

which is 20 minutes God turned time

backwards

for a prayer that didn’t even have that

much faith in it I want you to think

about think about his heart in doing

that think about the kindness of God

think about the fact that he’s for us

and not against us think about think

about the largeness of the heart of God

and this is probably next to raising

Lazarus from the dead and his own

Resurrection probably one of the

greatest miracles in all of the Bible

now of course you’ll find it again in

Joshua’s battle as well but

to turn time backwards 20 minutes tells

us a couple of things number one Jesus

Christ is the Lord of time

he doesn’t dwell in time like we do we

dwell in time we’re looking at the wa he

dwells in eternity always has always

will dwell in eternity that’s why I

thank God he can go back into our past

and heal it isn’t that amazing he can he

has our present in the palm of his hand

and he’s already in the future so we

don’t have to worry about when we get

there he’s already there he already

knows what we’re going to face he’s

already he’s already made provision for

us he’s already planned to keep us he’s

intertwined the very Glory of his name

in keeping us in all of our storms and

all of our struggles he’s not he’s not

bound by by time like we are he’s the

Lord of all time he can do anything he

wants in that context you begin to see

him standing up in the boat and you

start to understand

who it was that was speaking to the wind

who was speaking to the waves

in order to I I did a little bit of

reading and I read some comments by

people who study astrophysics and such

like things and essentially the universe

is is at least our portion of the

Universe moves in a divine order you

can’t just turn one part of it back

without turning the whole thing it’s

like it’s like my watch if I were to if

I were to pull out this little knob and

if I were to turn the the dial back 20

minutes everything in the watch Moves In

One Direction every little spring Every

Little Wheel every little intricate part

moves in a certain direction if I turn

it backwards everything has to reverse

and turn backwards with it it can’t keep

going forward while the hands go

backwards and that’s the way they

describe this miracle that was done in

the Old Testament by the son of by God

himself of course who is also Christ as

well and so that

in order to in order to to do this

everything has to stop and move

backwards

now the laws of gravity have to be

suspended because once you stop the

world moving in a certain direction

everything if you stop that first of all

the oceans would overflow all the land

we’d all be dead and drowned to be the

whole thing would be over uh the law of

gravity had to be suspended because we

would be flung off the surface of the

Earth into space there would have been

nobody left I mean you think of the

things that God had to do to answer the

prayer of a man who just said Give Me A

Sign

what kind of a man is this

that even the wind and the Seas obey him

is a man whose heart is for us he’s a

man who will answer our prayers when our

prayers seemingly fall short of the

grand Measure of Faith that we think we

should have but he’s never offended by

an honest heart never offended by an

honest cry

never offended by by you and I coming to

him with our concerns and our needs and

saying God I need you even if even if

our prayer has a a veiled reference that

you’re asleep in the middle of my

struggle or or how can I believe that

you’re going to change my life how can I

believe they’re going to use me for the

future how can I believe that that you

can take me and make something out of my

life and God says well let me let me

make it clear for everybody who’s ever

going to pray that prayer I’m just going

to stop the universe and turn it back 20

minutes

I’ll show you what I can do I’ll show

you the extent of my power but even more

than showing you my power I’ll show you

my heart

I am for you not against you I am with

you not aloof from you I’m willing to

take the journey with you through your

life through your storms through your

struggles through your questions through

your trials I will not abandon you in

your struggle I will not walk away when

you have questions I will not walk away

even when you accuse me of being

unfaithful

even when in your heart you determine

I’m not able to change your situation I

still will not walk away from you I will

still be there I will still be God I

will still do the things I’ve determined

to do as we heard when passenger side

get up today that he has predestined us

in Christ to be conformed to the image

of the Son of God he has a Divine

Purpose for each life and we’ve said it

from this public before and I’ve heard

it preached all my life he will move

Heaven and Earth down to you

and I just showed you in the scriptures

he will move Heaven and Earth

he will stop the wind he will calm the

waves he will move back time if

necessary

he will heal you in those areas where

you think your life is never going to be

whole again he will give you calm in

your present storm and he will give you

that peace that passes understanding

about your future

praise be to God praise be to God praise

me to God that’s who this man is I say

it’s time

for us to believe that God is for us

now let me finish with this thought it’s

in the context of the New Testament

where Jesus says in Mark chapter 11

verse 22 and to 24.

have faith in God

have faith in God have not not just

faith in faith

have faith in God

have faith in his goodness have faith in

his heart have faith in his power have

faith in the fact that he is for you and

not against you for assuredly I say to

you whoever says to this mountain be

removed and cast into the sea and does

not doubt in his heart but believes that

those things he says will be done

he will have whatever he says

therefore I say to you whatever things

you ask when you pray believe that you

receive them

and you will have them

whoever

says to this mountain whosoever he

doesn’t say for surely I say to you

people of magnanimous faith

people who have it all together people

who have no struggles people who believe

every every line of the Bible doesn’t

say that it just says whosoever

whosoever that’s you that’s me that’s

the strong that’s the weak that’s when

we have it all together that’s when we

have nothing together that’s when we’re

believing for the victory that’s when

we’re thinking we’re going to go down

we still have the power we still have

the ability to speak to the mountain

whatever that mountain is that that any

of us are facing today whatever that

mountain is that we’re going to face in

the future we still have the power to

speak to that mountain and in the name

of the one who died for us in the name

of the one who stands with us the name

of in the one who will never leave us

nor forsake us we can speak to this

mountain we’re just simply moving in

unison with the heart of God now

it’s not our faith that moves the

mountain it’s God who moves the mountain

it’s our confidence that he is for us

that makes the difference

we can speak to the mountain you will

not overcome me again you will not stand

in my way of the things that God has

determined my life to be and to do

through my life you will not cause me to

believe that I can never get up again or

never see Victory again or never go

forward again I speak to the mountain

I speak to it in the name of the one who

died for me and loves me with an

everlasting love the one who can reverse

time the one who can calm the Seas the

one who can speak to the winds the one

who can open every prison door heal

every bruised heart and give sight to

every blinded eye in the name of Jesus I

speak to this mountain

it’s time to believe that God is for us

it’s time praise be to God I

the the Prophet Daniel talks about the

the Peril and the upheaval that’s going

to accompany the last days but it also

says something in Daniel he says those

who know their God will be strong and do

exploits

those who know their God those who know

the heart of their God those who

understand

what he was trying to convey to us about

himself in the scriptures

praise be to God

I don’t know about you but I’m going to

speak Every Mountain that stands in in

my way whether it’s in my own heart or

something we face in the future

I’m going to speak to the mountains that

stand between those that are listening

online and and the Living God who loves

you and died I’m going to speak to that

mountain

and command it to be moved so that you

can hear just as Jesus said of the stone

of Lazarus tomb move that stone I’m

going to speak to that mountain

that stands between you and the voice of

God trying to get you to believe that

you have no hope for your future that is

a lie God is for you God is with you God

is wanting to raise you God is wanting

to give you strength Jesus came for that

reason

you can have a new life you can have a

purposeful life you can have a life that

has peace no matter what kind of storms

all of us are going to face in this

coming time that we’re going into

by the grace of almighty God by the

grace of almighty God my brother my

sister listening around the world

tonight I want to encourage you have the

courage to stand up and just say God is

for me

God is for me the Apostle Paul said it

this way if God is for us who can be

against us God is for me you got to get

that so deep in your heart God is not

sitting at this in in heaven looking at

your struggles and your flaws and your

trials and difficulties shaking his head

going all is too bad I had such hope for

so and so no no he knew us in our

weakness that’s why he came

he knew we could never get to where we

need to go in our own strength that’s

why he came he is for us he is for you

he’s not against you

just simply believe in your heart

that Jesus Christ died

for you because he loves you

died to to break down that wall that

separated you from all that God has for

you not just in time for but for

eternity

and confess Jesus Christ as your lord

in the full forgiveness of all the

wrongs that you’ve done that built up a

barrier between you and God

and begin to walk with him decide to

walk with him for the rest of your days

and you’re going to be amazed what God’s

going to do

I speak to you tonight as somebody who

has lived a great measure of this I’ve

seen what God can do I’ve walked with

him I’ve talked with him I’ve let him

reveal his heart to me and

by God’s grace he eventually Reveals His

heart through us as his people

and so father tonight I thank you God

for

I thank you Lord Jesus Christ for

all the people that

you are speaking to

Lord I feel bad that we went through a

season where we

we knew all about you but we didn’t know

you

as a nation

as a people so many Lord they just pile

scripture but don’t really see your

heart in the midst of it

I just want to thank you for revealing

something of your heart to us tonight as

we go into 2023 God give us the grace to

believe

give us the grace to believe

that these mountains

these storms these trials these

difficulties these questions

can be overcome by the mercy and the

power of a great God

Jesus Christ we love you we thank you

with all of our heart for loving us and

we give you the praise and give you the

glory

in your precious name

amen