Equipped for Purpose

Cleaned from the live recording. Lightly edited for reading.

Structure before spontaneity

...and healing meetings. You would not believe this man walks in this depth, this level of the supernatural. And the person asked the question, what is the difference between them and the prophets who prophesy accurately? You have many great gifts in the body of Christ. When you hear them preach, when you hear them prophesy, you say, wow, I want what they have. But why do many of them not have large churches like these men? That's what the person asked.

One of the things that came out had to do with structure, especially in the Pentecostal charismatic circle. We move with the Holy Ghost. You hear about spontaneity, and I say to people, it's important. Spontaneity is important. Flowing with the Holy Ghost is important. But before God made Adam and Eve, he built the garden. He made sure everything needed in the garden was there, and then he created man to tend the garden (Genesis 2:8, Genesis 2:15).

As I sat there it made me remember Nehemiah. That's what I originally wanted to share on. When they went to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, how they did it: by family, by batches, everybody took a particular part and they built (Nehemiah 3). And Jeremiah 20:11, God going before us as a dread warrior (Jeremiah 20:11). But I guess I'll pick that up some other time.

David, the ark, and good intentions

I was also looking in Chronicles, when David returned the ark to Jerusalem. He set up twenty-four hour worship, using Asaph, his sons and some other leaders to make sure worship continued around the clock (1 Chronicles 16:4-6, 1 Chronicles 25). One of the things we notice as he set it up: there was structure. Everybody knew what they had to do, what instrument they had to play, and what time slot they were given to worship. They knew who the leaders were, who the deputy leaders were, who were members of the group, and they all played a part.

David understood this because of mistakes. He made a terrible mistake that cost a life. He wanted to bring the ark of the covenant back to the city so the entire nation could be blessed. But he decided to do it his way. And while doing it his way, even though he had very good intentions, God was not satisfied with his good intentions. The young man had very good intentions too. When the cart tumbled, he tried to steady the ark of the covenant, and he died (2 Samuel 6:6-7, 1 Chronicles 13:9-10).

Sometimes in churches we settle for good intentions and we mess up terribly. We settle for good intentions and we experience severe attacks from the enemy. We experience defeat because we have good intentions. You hear people say, you need to understand them, they had very good intentions. Having good intentions is good. But good intentions are not correct all the time. Not all the time are they God's plan and purpose.

With his good intentions, a man died. David became very depressed, because he planned to do something great for God and God himself intervened and executed judgment. That can be a real demotivator in your Christian life. You're trying to do something very good for God, and instead of blessing your work, he turned his back on it or executed some form of judgment against you. We're still in here? I know some of you want to know where I'm going with this. Just stay with me.

David went back and checked. He read the ark's instructions, and he realized God had given specific instructions for how the ark should be moved (1 Chronicles 15:13-15). God is still speaking today, and there are still specific instructions in his word we need to follow. Tell your neighbor: God's word stands forever. It abides forever. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his word will not fail (Matthew 24:35). He honors his word above his name (Psalm 138:2). Not gifts. His word.

Peter had good intentions when Jesus was going to the cross. But in those good intentions, Jesus recognized it was the devil speaking in the disguise of good intention. Peter said, far be it from you, you will not die, and the Lord said, get behind me, Satan (Matthew 16:22-23). Imagine having such good intentions for the Lord, and the Lord rebukes you like you're a demon.

A hairline fracture

I'm saying this because when we start to talk about structure, even our own body has a skeletal structure. You cannot stand properly if it's broken. You cannot function properly if there's some issue.

I remember in my late teens playing football. We went in for a tackle. I missed the ball, the other player missed the ball, our feet collided, and instantly my right foot swelled. Typical men, I didn't go to the hospital. This is just a sprain. We've had foot issues before. I'll limp for a few days and walk again. But after a few days I realized it was getting worse. When I went to the hospital and they checked, they found a hairline fracture. Very fine.

We are the body of Christ, and we may have things in the body that seem insignificant to you but can be very painful to the body. Sometimes we think these issues will blow over quickly, but many times they don't. We need to pay special attention and care to them.

What God winked at

One of the things we learn when we're dealing with a body is discipline. You can't treat your body any old way and expect to always be healthy. I did that in my teenage years. I remember when my dad would tell me, go and take a rest, and I would say, I'm not sick, rest is for sick people, don't sleep in the day. He'd just watch me and smile. Then you get a little older, a little more mature, and even if you don't want to sleep in the day, your body decides it's going to shut down for a few minutes and give you the rest.

What you got away with in your teenage years, you don't get away with as you grow older. Your body responds. Likewise in the body of Christ. At a certain level of maturity, God winks at it. He looks over it. But after we reach a certain level of maturity and expectation, God requires stricter discipline (Acts 17:30).

So what we overlooked, what we winked at maybe five years ago in Throne Room International, we cannot afford to do anymore if we're going to grow and mature. Hence, there will be changes.

Changes I had to make

Last year I had to make some changes myself. Be deliberate, be disciplined, set boundaries. Some people got angry because they couldn't see us. They couldn't have a meeting with us the way it was done in the past. They'd say, Pastor, I want to talk with you, and we'd say, yes, come, and we'd sit and talk. After a while, when they said they wanted to see me, I'd say, speak with admin. Admin will give you a date and time.

I remember one person who came off the street. He had visited a few services in the past, and I said that to him. He said, no, you get big. I need to set an appointment to see you now. Some of you may feel a little bad and say, don't worry, come talk with me. No. We have to make changes. We cannot serve the body of Christ properly if we can't manage our own time.

(He asks the church to pray for Minister Petrina's grandson in hospital, and for those who can, to visit. A mother with a child in hospital is drained, not only physically but emotionally.)

I needed to prioritize my time. I had to make changes in my prayer life, because the Lord had been speaking to me about that. I thought I was doing good enough. Two hours, two hours and something. But he said to me, there needs to be greater work there. I remember him speaking to me in an apartment in Suriname early in the year. I came back, was watching a preacher, and I said to myself, you heard me, I need to increase my prayer time. About two days later Apostle Corley called me and said, the Lord is saying you need to increase your prayer time. I started walking that out. There came a time I had to reset my life. You make certain hours your minimum.

Continue to pray for me. I found that two days I was able to take it to twelve hours. No, don't clap. It's not an achievement. It's grace. Yes, I did some fasting in the latter part of the year to close the year out, but I felt it was the leading of the Lord, and I was able to obey, submit and follow along.

I'm not saying this so you'll say, oh, Apostle is strong. That's not what this is about. I had to, and I will have to keep making adjustments in my life, being disciplined to do the things God called me to do and make the impact God wants me to make. I'm saying it because you also will have to make adjustments.

I love watching television, but this discipline really affected my television. All the good series, I would already know the premiere date and when the next episode was coming out. Now you have to put that aside. You have to make sacrifices. You have to be disciplined.

Crossing over to where?

We can talk about resolutions. That's why I said to you, the last Sunday in December we were here, it's not about resolutions. It's about understanding your time and season. Understand what God is doing. If you follow this crossover, crossover, crossover story, you'll abandon your mission and go looking for something new when God has not changed what he asked you to do. In the height of everything you're hearing about crossing over: crossing over to go where? To do what?

I know some of you are looking at me. If you've crossed over, God bless you. But God isn't impressed because you've gotten a few days older in a new year. We'll get to what God is looking for shortly.

My wife adjusted too

When I made those adjustments, my wife also had to make adjustments. When she turned over for me in the bed and I'm not there... Women ask some serious questions. But thank God for my wife and the grace. I noticed she decided that with those timings she would increase her prayer time too. I'd hear her praying during those sessions. Sometimes mumbling, sometimes loud, but she's praying. And the team, sometimes when they look at the phone and I've said I'm praying and they don't see me, they think Pastor is sleeping. I'm just watching you from a distance.

So what changes is the Lord requiring from you this year, in this season, so you can be what he wants you to be and do what he planned for you to do?

For the equipping of the saints

The Bible says he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, for what? To equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). We've been hearing a lot about this in the apostolic. At many conferences we go to, we hear that the fivefold ministry is given for the equipping of the saints. The apostles and prophets are not the only ones to do the work of the ministry. They are to train the believers, the body of Christ, to do the work of ministry. How many of you heard that before? Yes, you go to conferences.

For building up the body of Christ. We are the body of Christ, and we need to be built up. And as I said, if the body is going to be strong, we need proper skeletal structure. We need structure in the church.

Many of you who have had a sprain, or a bone broken in your body, understand how difficult it is for the body to function without that part whole. Any of you ever sprained or broke your big toe? How difficult was it to balance? How difficult was it to walk? I remember when Jonathan broke his arm. My sister broke her hand too. Pastor Sarah told me she fell out of a cashew tree and fractured her shoulder. She used to dance, and that significantly affected how she danced and that ministry.

Broken pieces in the church

I want us to look at our relationships. Marriages, family, friendships, work, whatever it is. See if there are broken pieces that need to be mended.

Even in the church here, we can have people sitting and smiling and lifting their hands, but saying, I will never talk back to that person. Some of you are looking at me strangely. But I remember reaching out to people we hadn't seen in church and finding out why. Just to realize it was because of a leader in the church, a member in the church, and how they responded to them. They felt so ashamed, embarrassed, belittled.

I'm not saying that to shame anybody, because at one point I was the culprit. But I had to change too. We constantly go through metamorphosis. We constantly grow. The ministry is for building up the body of Christ. If I notice anything I'm doing is not contributing to the building process, I need to change. If what I'm doing is contrary or adverse to the building of other members of the church and the body of Christ, I need to stop.

Crying is necessary for growth

On the flip side, there are certain things we're going to do that are necessary for building the church, building the body, but people will not like them.

You heard me say this before. When Jonathan's hand broke, his mother started to exercise it and she'd say, come and hold him. When you hear him scream, you want to scream. It's like you're feeling the pain. My sister told them to leave her hand just like that. It's a painful process. An electrician I know in our area fell off a bucket or barrel fixing something. He said to me, Pastor, I wouldn't lie. When I went to therapy, I cried like a baby. I'm a big man, but when they took me through the process, I cried like a baby.

Tell your neighbor: sometimes crying is necessary for growth. When we're building, there are processes you don't like. It's uncomfortable. Sometimes when we put you in groups it's uncomfortable, because some of the people you don't like. We're still here this morning, right? But it's necessary.

The message of the apostles in this season

Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

I was saying this to my son, and I think to the prophetess in St. Lucia. I believe this is where, in the timing of God, the apostolic should be focusing its message in this season. Many are still focusing on the work of the ministry, getting believers to do the work of the ministry. But I believe we're in a season where God has brought the church to a certain stage, and the message of the apostles should be the maturity of the sons, bringing them into the full stature of Christ.

In this age of the apostolic, one of the things that will earmark true apostles and true prophets is that you'll hear them talking about us walking as full sons of God. You're going to hear a lot of messages on sonship. You're going to hear a lot of messages about us being like God. Many times when I hear this portion of scripture used, people talk about the fivefold ministry, the function of apostles and prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers, believers in the work of the ministry, and they settle there. One thing I recognize: they have not matured in their revelation of God. They have not matured in the revelation of the apostolic, or they refuse to move on progressively with what God is doing in the body of Christ in this season.

God spoke to them in the past. It was relevant, it was true, and it is still true. But the emphasis of the apostolic ministry in this season will be bringing people into the full stature, the full revelation, the full maturity of Christ. You'll hear more and more apostles and prophets talking about us being like God, walking like God, and doing the works of the Son of God.

If you pay attention, even on social media, many of the great men of God have matured in revelation in this area. I was reading something yesterday where somebody mentioned a prophecy by Kenneth Hagin, I think from the 1960s or 70s. He said in the latter days God is going to raise up men who walk the earth like God. Some will accuse them of saying they're God. But they're not saying they're God. They're saying they are sons of God, come to do the work of God like God in this world.

When I heard that I said, wow. We read about Word of Faith, Rhema, his different ministries. A great prophet of God, with tremendous demonstration of the Spirit in the last years of his life. He was able to speak something that sounded like heresy in his day. And even in our day, people can't come to grips with someone walking into a service and saying, God is here.

God is here. Some of you don't catch it. I know God is here because I am here. I know God is here because he lives in me. I know God is here because I am his temple, and everywhere I go, God is (1 Corinthians 6:19). When you say that, many people understand it in the context of theology: God is omnipresent. Yes, God is omnipresent. But I also know God is manifestly present here.

No longer children

So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes (Ephesians 4:14).

Paul said, I didn't come to you with excellency of speech or of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). There's a place for eloquence. There's a place for great oratory. But there's always a place for the Spirit and power of God to be on display. If we can only speak and you hear nice things, if we can only speak and you hear great messages, what's going to happen when the sick come? What's going to happen when you face demons? When you face principalities and powers? Whatever you think or say, principalities and powers are always at work, until God takes up his rule and puts all of them down.

Speaking the truth in love

Rather, speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Tell your neighbor: speaking the truth in love.

This is necessary, because many times you hear in church, I'm radical, I tell them how it is, but they leave out love. Some people like to hear a certain kind of preacher who takes a stand and eloquently says what the church is not doing, what the pastor is not doing. But the Bible is clear. I was reading First John again today. If you don't have love, you are not of God (1 John 4:8, 1 John 3:10). We listen to people on television talking as though they speak for God, talking about preachers and how this is not right and that is not right, expounding some little-children revelation as though they found something great, speaking against servants of God with what seems like authority. And it says, speak the truth in love.

When you read First John, it tells you clearly about the antichrist spirit. It tells you clearly that those who love God love the brethren, and those who don't love the brethren don't love God, are not of God, and are of the devil (1 John 4:20). And people want to send me things, as though somebody is doing God some great service by talking bad about preachers all over the place. The Bible says the devil is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). You sound like you were listening to him. I'm just joking.

When I was lying down this morning going through that book, it was on me. There are a lot of things happening in the name of God by the devil. And that four-letter word, L-O-V-E, will help a lot of us. We're praying for the gift of discernment? Let me impart that gift. Study that word. Be that word. The Bible says God is love, and he who does not love is not of God and does not know God (1 John 4:8).

So in all your radicalness, in all our revelation and hearing from God, and I am a prophet of God, I don't stick with nonsense: it's bare nonsense if there's no love.

Grow up in every way

We are to grow up in every way (Ephesians 4:15). Tell your neighbor: grow up in every way. Not some ways. Every way. Grow up in totality. Grow up in fullness. There's an aim. There's a level. There's a standard. And this growing does not stop until you reach that height, that level, that standard. Say it with me: I'm growing. I'm growing in every way.

Into him who is the head, into Christ. So when we talk about being a Christian: until I start to walk and talk and act and look like Jesus Christ, I still need to grow.

That's why I'm saying the apostolic in this season will be focused on that aspect of the church as the church age closes and comes to an end. God is looking for sons and daughters. As 1 John 4 says, as he is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). How is Jesus right now? Not as he was, but as he is.

How God outsmarted the devil

Christ Jesus is sitting on the throne. He's ruling and reigning. He made a public spectacle of principalities and powers. He embarrassed them publicly (Colossians 2:15). And he is demonstrating his manifold wisdom through the church (Ephesians 3:10). He's displaying his great wisdom through you.

What kind of wisdom? The scripture says if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). God outsmarted the devil. He outmaneuvered all the agents of hell by bringing his Son into this world and allowing them to crucify him.

Like Moses, the deliverer who brought Israel out of Egypt. When he was born, Pharaoh decided to slaughter the male children to put an end to God's plan (Exodus 1:22). From Genesis we see Lucifer tricking Eve. Genesis 6:4, the fallen ones (Genesis 6:4). Over and over through the scriptures. Even when Christ was born, they tried to wipe him out. They killed every child under a certain age to make sure he didn't come into the world (Matthew 2:16). When they couldn't wipe him out as a baby, they thought, at least we can do it now he's an adult. They set traps for him. They lied on him. They got a warrant for his arrest, and then papers passed for his death penalty. They put him on the cross and executed him, one of the most painful and shameful ways of execution, and they thought they had won.

But God in his wisdom, through the death of his Son, made a public spectacle of the enemy. The enemy is so embarrassed. When he went back through the scripture he had been reading to work out when the Son of God would be born and how to trap and kill him, he got to Genesis, where God told Abraham, take your son and sacrifice him (Genesis 22:2). And he's looking back saying, oh shoot. I didn't see it, and none of you nincompoops could tell me. Abraham's only son was to be sacrificed. Couldn't you see he carried the wood on his back (Genesis 22:6)? We should have noticed when Jesus was going to the cross with the cross on his back, it was prophesied. We should have abandoned the process right there. In Genesis the only son carried the wood and went to his own place of sacrifice, and he was laid on the wood he carried, like Jesus Christ was laid on the cross (Genesis 22:9). But God intervened and turned the whole process around.

Prophesy your growth

We need to grow in every way. Say, I'm growing. Prophesy over your life. Look at the areas you need to grow in and speak. Don't tell me you want to get fat. You don't want to grow horizontally right now. Some areas you need to grow down. Some areas you need to grow up.

With this mouth, prophesy, I'm growing. Because you've been accustomed to speaking negative things with your mouth, and now you're speaking positive things. I'm maturing. I'm coming into perfection. I'm looking more and more like Jesus. When I walk, when I talk, when I act, I'm like Jesus. I have no need. I have no lack. His rod and his staff comfort me. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for the Lord is with me. He prepares a table in the presence of my enemies. He anoints my head with oil. My cup runs over (Psalm 23). People speak of my downfall, but goodness and mercy are upholding me, going before me, opening the way, clearing the path. The Lord has crowned my year with joy (Psalm 65:11). I speak joy into my 2026. Joy going out, joy coming in. This is my year of laughter.

The God of peace

(From The Passion Translation.) Now may the God who brought us peace (Hebrews 13:20). This is a year of peace for me. I thank God for ease. But even when there are storms, I speak peace. The storms may come, but peace will silence them. The waves may rise, but peace will make them tranquil. When you hear terrible news, you say shalom. Wanting nothing, lacking nothing, having all that I need. That kind of peace.

May the God who brought us peace by raising from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, so that he would be the great shepherd of his flock by the power of the blood of the eternal covenant.

Jesus lived in the Old Testament

Let me say this. On Thursdays, the week after next, we'll start going through the book of Revelation. I need to show you, when the scripture says as he is so are we in this world, that it's not the Jesus you saw walking through the Old Testament.

Let me ask a question, Bible students. Did you know Jesus lived in the Old Testament? When you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you say, oh, it's in the New Testament. But everything that happened in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John until his death is in the Old Testament. I'm going to leave that there. You have homework.

Perfection in every part of you

This is what he prayed. May he work perfection in every part of you (Hebrews 13:21). Tell your neighbor, may God work perfection in every part of you. We're talking about growing into his fullness. This is not time for milk. This is time for meat (Hebrews 5:12-14). The baby Christian stage, you need to grow out of it.

May he work perfection in every part of you, giving you all that you need to fulfill your destiny. Declare it: I have all that I need to fulfill my destiny. I'm not waiting on it. Through his covenant, through the death on the cross, he provided everything I need.

If he has provided everything you need and you don't have it, then we need to ask some questions. That's why Paul always prayed that God would give us wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17). You can have something and not know you have it. You can have it and not know how to access it or how to use it.

If you're sick right now, his perfection is working in you. I don't care what disease you have in your body. I don't care what mental difficulties, what psychological problems you have. He is working perfection into every part of you. You need to believe his word.

Consecration and the one-sided covenant

When you read scriptures like this, the religious mindset says, you need to fast twenty-one days. The religious mindset says, we haven't fasted for the year yet, so I haven't dedicated my life yet, I haven't consecrated my life yet. Consecration has nothing to do with that. Consecration has to do with understanding the cross, his death, and the one-sided covenant of God.

Many times we say we made a covenant with God. If you read Hebrews and understand it, God made a covenant with us through Christ that is one-sided. What I mean is this: a covenant needs two parties. But God said, through his Son, he would fulfill his part and fulfill our part. All we need to do is believe and receive it. Agree with it.

What did you do to have the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead living in you (Romans 8:11)? How long did you fast? How many times did you read through the Bible, so that God said, they're really faithful, look how they're sacrificing, because they made this level of commitment I'm going to cause the Spirit that raised my Son from the dead to dwell in them? Explain to me how much you fasted for God to do that.

From the time you said, Lord Jesus, you're my master, and believed and accepted the work of the Lord on the cross, the Spirit of God came to live inside of you. Not a junior spirit. Not a dwarf spirit. The very Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.

I used to ask myself some questions, and I'm starting to ask them again. If the same Spirit lives in me, what is impossible? If the Spirit that raised Christ lives in me, everything that represents death needs to leave my body. I start to understand why he says by his stripes we were healed (1 Peter 2:24).

So I prophesy to every cell in your body: God is working perfection in you. To every part of your soul: God is working perfection in you. To your entire spirit, your entire being: Christ is working perfection in you. If your eyes are not seeing properly, God is working perfection in your eyes. If you're sick in your body, he's working perfection in your body. On my job, in my school, wherever I am, God is working perfection. The head and not the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13). He's the alpha and the omega, and I am in him. Past, present or future, it is well with my soul.

A product of excellence

And may he express through you all that is excellent (Hebrews 13:21). Prophesy to somebody: may he express through you all that is excellent and pleasing. Say all. All that is excellent.

Look at the person next to you. You're a product of excellence. In everything you do, I see excellence. In everything you are, everything you achieve, I see excellence. That means if you've been struggling with your grades, they're improving. He's working excellence in my mind. He's working excellence in my discipline. Everything that troubles me and keeps me from accomplishing what I should, he's working in it.

Through my life union with Jesus, the Anointed One. Christ in me, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). I have this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7). I'm carrying something of great value, something of excellence inside of me. In fact, I am excellent.

When you say things like that, people start to wonder. If any man be in Christ, and I am in Christ, I am a new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). I was made and recreated in the image of the Son of God. When I got saved, heaven rejoiced (Luke 15:7). When I go to heaven, there will be excitement because I am there.

I don't make this a boast of myself. Neither do I treat the blood of the Lamb lightly, nor his work. God sowed one seed on the earth. And the Bible says in Hebrews, he is not ashamed to call me his brother (Hebrews 2:11). He's not ashamed to call you family. So why are we ashamed to say who we are? I am the brother of Christ Jesus. I am a joint heir with him (Romans 8:17). I am a child of the living God. God has elevated me and given me a place above the rank of the angels.

It's time for us to believe the word of the Lord. Right now, I don't want you to think about what you're struggling with, or the mistakes you keep repeating. Declare, even in that circumstance, God is working perfection in me. His perfection is going to override those weaknesses. I believe who he says I am.

When you read your Bible and say, God is love, and you look at yourself and ask like David, who am I that the Lord would look on me, care for me, pay such keen attention to me, love me (Psalm 8:4)? Who are you? I am his child.

I know some of us can't wrap our minds around that yet. Bad theology is still affecting many of us. But this is what the apostolic in this era will focus on: as Christ Jesus is. Jesus is sitting on the throne of his Father. That's the reality. That's what he's doing now. And the Bible says, as he is, so are we in this world. That's why Paul understood this revelation and said we're seated with him (Ephesians 2:6). Not we will be seated with him. It's a present reality. A present truth. You're in a place of rulership.

Grace for weak people

When we talk about an anointing service, pouring out oil or imparting grace, in this season it is for you to grow up in every way. I don't care how long you've been saved. I don't care how much mess you're making, how you're tripping over yourself. One of the things I've seen through a very short thirty-something years of walking with the Lord is that God can take weak, insignificant people like me and do a work that causes even you to marvel. It's his grace. It's the anointing.

If you're willing to throw up your hands and say, Lord, I love you, but you know I'm struggling. If you're willing to do like the publican, beat your chest and say, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner (Luke 18:13). God can do wonders with you.

Prophetic word: an army of sons

For I'm raising up an army of sons, says the Spirit of the living God. An army that knows how to fight, but an army that knows how to love too. An army that knows the plans of the enemy, but an army of friends that knows my plans also.

I'm calling out my Abrahams. I'm calling my friends. As I came down to speak to Abraham because I was fond of him (Genesis 18:17). I cherished him. He was a lover of me, and I loved him dearly. Haven't you heard what my Son told you? Jesus told you that I love you even as I love him (John 17:23). And just as I've given him everything freely, wouldn't I give you everything freely too (Romans 8:32)? I love you.

As you lift your hands, says the Lord, I am giving freely. I'm imparting gifts, graces and abilities, sight, insight, hearing, freely. I want you to lift your hands knowing that I love you even as I love Jesus Christ, in no less way.

Anointing the leaders

(After worship, he calls the leaders forward first.) Always remember Psalm 133. It runs from the head down (Psalm 133:2).

I want you to be in a receiving mood. The Father loves you as much as he loves Christ Jesus. Not with less love. And many times what happens? We think we're not deserving. We think God looks down at our struggles to decide whether he loves us or not. When we understand this, we'll treat every member of the body with importance, with respect, with love.

When I look around the church at some of the young ones, and some of you who even to yourself feel lost in church, I look at you and smile. Because if some of you could see five years, ten years into your future, you'd be excited.

God is already in this place. He just makes his presence more manifest. Before I call you up, I saw the Lord as though he were giving food to people, cake to eat. As you lift your hands, the Lord is feeding you now. Some of you feel oil being poured on you. This oil is symbolic, but there's a real oil being poured right now. Some of you can't explain what's happening. He's working perfection in you, and there's a manifest physical demonstration of it. Somebody, pain is leaving you. It's as though you've been feeling pain in your skeletal body from your shoulders down. He's healing you right now in Jesus' name.

As it has rested upon me, even so I release it to you now. Take it. Fresh grace, fresh oil, fresh manna. What you need to carry out his will and fulfill your destiny. I release it right now in Jesus' name. Those who struggle with chronic, prolonged sickness, I speak an end to it. Be healed now in Jesus' name. Those who have been planning to take the nations with me, a grace is coming on you right now. The Lord is saying, I'm releasing power, gifts, faith, miracles, healing.

Fresh grace for the journey ahead. I unlock wells. I release power for the spinal cord and everything in your body that needs realigning. And I unlock the gifts you've been putting off for years, thinking they're for the latter season of your life. The Father is saying there's a healing dimension coming on you this season. I hear the Lord saying, I'll make you a sign and a wonder to many (Isaiah 8:18). It's not more than you can carry. I'm enabling you to carry more, says the Lord, in this season.

Leaders, go to work

Now it's time for you to go to work. (He places leaders in teams around the room to pray for the congregation.) Here's what's going to shock you. As you pray for the congregation, what's in you is going to increase. It's going to get stronger. And congregation, you're receiving nothing less.

What I'm trying to teach the congregation this morning: we can have a special anointing service, and that's okay. But the anointing can be right there. You just need to drink. You just need to draw on it, or I just need to release it. It's not something to be worked up. It's not because of our great holiness. Holiness is important, very important for a Christian. But he said he is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:5). I'm just drawing from him and releasing to you.

When you're praying for these people, the same apostolic grace that rests on me will be released through you.

Word to the mentorship team

(He and Pastor Sarah minister to the mentorship team.) As we anoint you, it's grace for advancement and growth, and every parasite, every parasitic issue, is going to fall off you.

I impart grace that God would give you revelation of who you are, and not who you are not. This is what I hear the Lord saying to this group: stop focusing on who you are not. That's not why you're in the team. Some of you are struggling because you're focusing on who you're not. You're not part of the "are not." You're part of the "are." You're not in this team because you don't have anything. You're just where you need to be. You don't need to impress us. Jesus is impressive enough, and as you submit to him, you're going to be just as impressive. That's the grace we release on you this morning.

Within one year, says the Lord, you're going to be shocked by the new you, because weights are going to fall off. The Lord is saying, I'm going to peel back some things of the flesh and cause what I placed inside of you, what I called you to be, to come to the fore, so evident that not only will you believe it, but those around you will see it. So get yourself prepared. Don't hide. Stop being part of the "are not." You're part of the "are." Not you will be. You are. We're going to get this group running again in January, full steam ahead.

As I have received from the Lord, I release to you now in Jesus' name: power, grace, revelation, wisdom. I declare this is a season of fatness for you. The Lord said, I'm going to cause you to grow, advance and be fat in the spirit. Fresh grace. Receive it in Jesus' name. Be filled with the Holy Ghost. Let it bubble up. Fill my cup, Lord. Come and quench the longing of this soul right now, in Jesus' name.

(Team ministry continues; the recording ends during prayer.)