Keep Your Eyes Above the Storm: The Ark in Dagon's House

Cleaned from the live recording. Lightly edited for reading.

A word-activated kingdom

Come on. Prophetically. It's not just by actions. The kingdom is a word-activated kingdom. You need to open up your mouth.

Hold on. I know you're getting excited. How could David say, you uncircumcised Philistine, I will cut off your head and give your carcass to the birds of the air (1 Samuel 17:46), when he was running at him with a sling? You see, it starts here. David already saw him defeated. David already saw him with his head off. Even though he did not have a sword in his hand, he saw Goliath had a big sword, and he said, that sword in his hand is going to be my weapon (1 Samuel 17:51).

Whatever the enemy is coming against you with, you have to use it and wipe him out. Use it and decimate him. Use it and destroy his works.

We dismantle, we destroy, we bring down every opposition. Every giant, every mountain, everything standing in our way. Every altar, every attendant to demonic altars, we burn down. Every generational opposition. For your family. For your destiny. For your future.

The ark in the land of the giants

After the ark of the covenant was captured, it went into Dagon's house. And the Lord cut off Dagon's hands and his head (1 Samuel 5:1-4). They got frightened. They said, let us send the ark to Gath (1 Samuel 5:8).

Gath was the land of the giants. When you hear Gath, Gath produced champions. When the Philistines came out against Saul and the army of Israel, one man came out and stood in the midst of the battlefield and said, if you have anybody who can take me out, we will be your servants (1 Samuel 17:8-9). And the Bible says there was a response in Israel. They were dismayed and greatly afraid (1 Samuel 17:11). Teeth chattering. Spears rattling. The armour on them was shaking.

You ever had fear and started to get cold sweats, your body starting to shake? There was a response, but not one of victory. A response of defeat. David could hear teeth rattling on the side of the battlefield. David could hear knees knocking against one another. You could see people dancing, but not in victory. You thought this fancy dance came out now? It came out a long time ago. People learned to shake their knees, but not in celebration. In fear.

They took the ark of the covenant to Gath. And surely the Philistines thought, if anybody can save us from the God of Israel, from the God of Moses, from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it has to be the champions of Gath. The giants of Gath. But when the ark of the covenant entered, when God showed up, the Bible says there was panic in the city. A very great destruction (1 Samuel 5:9).

Panic in the camp of the enemy

Tell your neighbour, there's going to be panic. Panic in every house. In every temple, every place where they set up altars against me, against my family, against this church, against my destiny, there's going to be panic.

Can you hear it? Like Goliath was hearing the shaking in Israel, can you hear it in the camp of the enemy? Can you hear the confusion in every evil house?

I can hear. I don't know about you. I can hear feet running in all directions. I can see demons getting confused. I can see people who erected altars against you breaking them down in frustration. Breaking them down in panic, in terror.

The giants of Gath started to panic. The giants started to run in fear. Your giants are panicking. Your giants are running in fear. Those mountains, those people who thought they owned you, who thought they were going to destroy your destiny, destroy your future, they're running in panic.

They brought him in. I can see the giants standing. I can see them taking position in the city. I can see them calling on their god. It's not one giant. Not Goliath alone. It's the entire city. God may have been able to defeat the other cities. He may have been able to bring down the other gods. But I hear them saying, not me. But when God entered, panic. Panic on every altar. Confusion in every demonic house. Confusion in every satanic gathering. Confusion to every gathering of witches and warlocks. Confusion in the high places and in the low places.

God is stepping into my situation. God is stepping into my mess. He's stepping into my cage. He's stepping into my home. And bars are being broken. Prison walls are being torn down. Chains are breaking. And captives are being set free.

A shaking in this nation

Every high thing is coming down. We demolish every high place (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Don't be surprised if after we finish praying this week there's an earthquake in this city, in this country. That doesn't cause us to fear. But there are some things I've seen erected in high places along our country, along our coastline. And they must come down. They will come down. Some of you are afraid to open up your mouth. Demons will topple now.

There's going to be a shaking in this nation. If Yahweh be God, let it be known (1 Kings 18:39).

God is setting them up

When God showed up, the Philistines thought they had captured the God of Israel. In this nation, people are thinking they're cornering the God of the Christians. People are thinking they're dispossessing the God of the Christians. But just like with the Philistines, God is setting them up.

The Lord allowed it to look as though he was defeated. He allowed them to march, put him on a cart and take him into their territory. He allowed them to surround him. And then he said, look and see what your God can do.

We now come up with a song that God sang since the olden days. Look and see what God can do. A God of miracles. His power has no end. He was taken in by the enemy, and he was singing, I am a God of wonders. The enemies were confused. They captured him, and he's singing, I'm the God of wonders. My power has no end.

I can see the giants nudging one another. They're saying the Christian God is confused. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is confused. He's surrounded, but he's saying his power has no end. He's saying he's a God of wonders. And they marched him into the temple of their god. And the wonders started.

It's in the midst of your enemies that the wonders will start. It's in the midst of your enemies that the celebration will start.

Let the God inside you sing

Some of you have been running from your enemies, and the Lord is saying, allow them to encircle you. I want to show you some things. Allow them to come against you like a flood. I want to teach you something.

And then you start to hear the song inside, his power has no end, and you shut it up. That can't be God. Then it starts to bubble up, he's the God of wonders, and you say, no, I'm in a terrible situation. That's when the God on the inside starts to prophesy. He starts to speak. He says to you, the Egyptians you see today, you shall see them no more forever (Exodus 14:13).

That's when some of you look to the left and see mountains, look to the right and see rivers, see problems. But then the God inside you starts singing. Drown them in the Red Sea. He starts to sing a new song (Exodus 15:1). Allow him to sing. Allow him to speak. Allow him to prophesy from the inside.

He looks at the impossible things and says, possible. He hears the no of the enemy, and he says to you, yes. He sees the tears on the outside and says, put on the garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3). Put on festive garments and celebrate. Because what I see is victory. What I see is joy. What I see is celebration. Jubilee, restoration, recovery. Recovering all (1 Samuel 30:8).

God set an ambush

With God you are a majority. God showed the Israelites and the Philistines, he alone is a majority.

He went in there. They carried him triumphantly, and they didn't know God was setting an ambush. They carried him, singing and celebrating, to Dagon and the others. But God was setting an ambush.

You've been crying too long. You've been in confusion too long. You've been in panic too long, in disarray too long. God is setting an ambush. It's time to smile. It's time to rejoice. It's time to celebrate and allow God to do his work.

The Israelites were crying. The Philistines were rejoicing. And God was rejoicing too. God is saying, I'm smiling at the stupidity. I'm smiling at the audacity. I'm smiling at the foolishness. They think they've captured me. They think they've captured my child. They think they're keeping them in bondage. But I'll go in there and cause some terror. I'm going to cause some panic.

They will come for you to pray for them

Let's read 1 Samuel 6:5.

"Therefore you must make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land." (1 Samuel 6:5)

Hold on. Some of those same people fighting against you will come to you to pray for them. Some of the same people who erected altars against you will come to you to pray for their deliverance.

God wasn't afraid of an interfaith service

People interceding for idols. People interceding for demons. God wasn't afraid to be in an interfaith service. God wasn't afraid to be in a place where they said, let's all be quiet and do a silent prayer, because nobody wants to offend the other.

They had a silent prayer in Dagon's temple, and somebody fell. But it was not my God.

They just put him in there. They shut the door and went away. We don't want to deal with the problem. There are too many problems, so we just put them in with the enemy, shut the door. No noise. We're going to have a silent prayer. We're going to shut their mouths. We're going to ensure they can't pray.

I may not be able to open up my mouth. But I can open up my mind. I can open up my imagination. I can open up my spirit. So I'm not afraid when it's a silent prayer. I know when I start to pray silently, people start to panic in confusion.

When they give to the church

And hear this one. When some churches get frightened. When some of these people give money to the church, read what is happening. They sent the ark back with gold (1 Samuel 6:4).

I remember a woman telling me somebody was giving her money and she was afraid to take it. Take it. Sometimes we're afraid of all kinds of things. Take it and bring it and put it in the basket.

Some of them will try to put things in your hand, money they've worked on, and the work will backfire. That's the kind of confidence I have.

The other day we went somewhere and somebody came and touched my head, and one of us was a little concerned. I said, leave him. Because I know if he's trying anything, it will backfire. Not tomorrow, not ten days from now. There and then it will backfire.

A boomerang anointing

We've got a boomerang anointing. You pelt something at us, you've got to duck. It's coming back.

You don't have to say backfire. The Lord said the pit they dug for you, they will fall into it (Psalm 7:15; Psalm 57:6). So watch them dig the pit and smile. Watch them set the trap and smile, because you know they're building it like Haman built the gallows for himself (Esther 7:10). Whatever they build for you will backfire. They are falling into it.

We must understand our God is bigger. He is mightier. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Stretch your imagination. Not just above what you can ask, but what you can imagine. I don't know if you're like me, my imagination can run far and wide, and he's able to do exceedingly far above that.

So in my mind I know there's a boomerang grace. There's a boomerang power. You touch me, you lay hands on your own self. You smite me, it's going to bounce off and hit you in your face.

That's why you hear the story James Maloney told, I think about Maria Woodworth-Etter going to a city. They said to the witches, clear out seventy miles. Don't come back for three days, or else you're all going to die.

There's a grace coming upon this house. There's a grace I have stepped into and will continue to walk into that will cause the enemy to shiver. That will cause demonic entities to panic. Because my God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). My God is a terror to his enemies. He caused the earth to tremble. My God is not just able to save. He's mighty to save (Zephaniah 3:17).

I am the same today

So if you're sick right now, start to celebrate, for you're bound to experience the miraculous healing power of God. If you've been bound, you've been set free. Cages have been broken. Chains have been broken. You've been released from everything that held you captive.

That's my God. He said, I'm the same here in Philistia. I'm the same as in Israel centuries ago, the same in the days of the apostles. The same in the days of Elijah. The same in the days of Paul the apostle. I am the same today (Hebrews 13:8).

Hear the prophecy now. I was the same in the days of Oral Roberts. I was the same in the days of Kathryn Kuhlman. I was the same in the days of the great men and women of the last century. And I'm the same today. My power still works. My delivering power still works. My miraculous power still works. The God that destroys strongholds. The God that destroys armies. Nothing that stands before you is too difficult for me.

You'll run through a troop. You'll leap over a wall (Psalm 18:29). You'll bring out all those in captivity.

Can you see yourself bringing your family out of captivity? Can you see yourself bringing your generation out of captivity, your children out of captivity? He's the same God. The miracle-working God. The God of battle. He's still the God of battle.

Just give the Lord a clap offering.

(Worship, a word of encouragement from another minister, the offering and announcements follow.)