Finding Unwavering Faith: Embracing Spiritual Breakthroughs and Divine Protection

Have you ever wondered how to find unwavering faith amidst life's uncertainties? Join us in our latest podcast episode, "Month of Breakthrough," where we start with a prayer of gratitude, thanking God for the gift of a new day and His endless blessings. We'll share a personal reflection inspired by a song about reconciliation and a recent church sermon, emphasizing Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. Discover how to confront doubts and make a definitive choice to follow Jesus, inspired by the story of Thomas.

Our discussion continues with "Renewal and Breakthrough in Faith," featuring a heartfelt confession of sins and a plea for God's forgiveness. We'll delve into 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, focusing on spiritual enlightenment and the necessity of breakthroughs in worship, mindset, and our relationship with Jesus Christ. Hear us highlight the distinction between fleeting worldly struggles and the eternal significance of spiritual growth. As we encourage prayers for strength and renewal, we'll remind you to maintain hope and recognize God's continuous work in your life, seeking His swift aid for personal afflictions.

In the final segments, "Divine Protection and Blessings Declaration" and "Planting Seeds of Truth and Breakthrough," we express profound gratitude and declare our faith in God's protection. Through heartfelt prayer, we ask for His continued support for families and success in their endeavors. Embrace the importance of hope and being open to God's answers in various forms. We'll wrap up with a benediction from Ephesians 3:20-21, reaffirming our identity in God's promises and moving forward into the greatness He has for us. Join us on this enriching spiritual journey as we seek to embed God's truths in our hearts and live out His word.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

One second there we go All right y'all.

Speaker 1: 0:04

So good morning everybody. It is Monday, july 8. We're in the second week of July. God, you are so good. Thank you for allowing us to see another Monday. We know that this is your day. As I'm sitting here listening to the birds chirping, as I'm sitting here in my full flesh and healthy, as I'm sitting here with eyes that can be open, ears that can hear a heart that's still pounding. Lord, god, I just thank you for giving us another opportunity to come before you in worship and praise. So, lord, as we enter we are entering into this week, as we are here on Monday, lord, we are asking that you will just use this session, use this meetup, use this meeting, use this moment right now. It's just a blip on your calendar, lord, it's just a breath of a day, but I ask that we will encounter you this morning in such a special way. Thank you for filling our hearts, lord God. Even though we have sadness and chaos and all kinds of stuff going on, lord God, we thank you for filling our hearts with joy and gladness, because we know that you are still good, that you are still reigning, that you are still in control, that we can praise you, even in the midst of not getting what we want, not hearing from you quickly. You know we are your children and we are still standing in need, but we are still believing that you are a good God, you're a good father and that you're providing for us, and that even now, as we are coming before your throne. Lord God, we're thanking you, we're thanking you, we're thanking you for what you have done and what you've already done in this day. Just bring us here for another chance for God to come before you in worship and praise. Amen, all right.

Speaker 1: 1:39

So I love those. You know, I tend to put these songs on rotation. Once I find a song, I kind of stick to it. But I love that last song that was talking about reconcile, come on and reconcile. And you know, I love it because of, really, what it says about, not just us, but how the Lord reconciles us back to him, how he kind of brings us back to him.

Speaker 1: 2:04

So today, though, we're going to be, let me pull up my screen, give me one second. Here I'm trying to, I'm trying to talk, listen and share all at the same time. So let me just share my screen and get us into prayer. Lord, thank you for this month of breakthrough. I don't know who else is claiming it, but I'm for real claiming it. I thank you, lord, that even as we are celebrating completion, that what you started in us will be finished this month, meaning, you know, it might not be full cycle, but the ideas or the call on your life or, you know, even us accepting what God has for us, you know receiving that like a completion, like you know it's finished. We are with God, we are. You know what I mean. Like sometimes you have to even make a decision whether you're going to serve Jesus or not.

Speaker 1: 2:55

I was sitting in our church yesterday and there was the sermon yesterday and he was talking about Jesus being the way, the truth and the life and as he's explaining the Lord Jesus through testimony. The guy that spoke yesterday wasn't our senior pastor, he was, I would say, a youth minister and sometimes when ministers who don't get a chance to preach a lot, they come up and they can't let the time go. They got to keep going. But he was really caught up in the message and he started talking about Jesus being the way, the truth and the life and he he also then kind of expanded that thought pattern on. You know just who he is, what does the truth mean and what does the light mean.

Speaker 1: 3:38

And you know, for a moment I sat there and I thought, you know, if other people heard us, if somebody came off off the street, if an unbeliever and even some Christians heard what he was saying, they would really think we're crazy, because we're talking about serving and following a man, jesus, who is God, who is Lord and God. And he talked a lot about Thomas and Thomas being so doubtful, being so doubtful that even when the Lord appeared to him, you know, after he was raised from the dead, that Thomas was like yeah, but let me see, he needed proof, he wanted to see it in his hands, he wanted to see it for real, for real, like he needed real proof. And that seed of doubt and you know even the naming, you know doubtful, thomas is where it came from. But even with that, as he was sharing it yesterday and I said, yeah, there are to myself that there are a lot of people who still a lot of us, quite frankly, we really don't believe that God is who he is, because we're not really seeing the fruit. A lot of times we're watching people suffer. You know we're here, I'm talking to people on a replay, a lot of y'all who who are like you know, I've lost my mom, I've lost my job, I've you know I'm losing my mind, my kids going crazy. I don't see where is God and we keep asking that question.

Speaker 1: 4:58

And so what was so important when I left that sermon yesterday was in my mind, in my mind, in my heart, it's true, In my mind. I have to make that call. I have to make that decision about what I think about Jesus. I have to make that decision in the same way, like you have to convince you, you got to like accept or don't accept. Like, a long time ago, the Lord was like you either believe or you don't believe. Shelly, this, this notion that he's just going to keep chasing you because he's just a gentleman. It's like, look, I have work for you to do and I'm not going to force you. Either you believe or you don't believe, okay. And so I had to settle in that receiving and believing who the word of God says Jesus is. I had to really believe it for myself, not what my mama did or how my aunties were prayers and my grandma was a prayer None of that I had to believe who Jesus is for myself.

Speaker 1: 5:52

And it starts in your heart and it goes to how you think and into your mind. So, as we are coming into this month, come up, come. You know we call again. We talk about completion and the number of completion, part of how you come to completion, part of how you. You know God finishes what he starts in you, some of us, what he started in us, is a call that you know, equips us to go out and tell other people about Jesus.

Speaker 1: 6:18

But if you don't in your mind settle that, your mind settle that, if you don't in your mind settle that God is God above all, that God is still God even when things aren't working out the way in our flesh we think it should, that God is still God even when you lose your job. God is still God when there's death in your family. If you don't settle that in your mind, it's going to impact the way you carry out your assignment. And assignments are different. Assignment could be you witnessing on the job. It could be just you showing up in the parking lot at a store and you smiling at somebody, and just your smile changed your life because of the light that you carry. It's not always a huge platform, right, but how you think really matters. How you think impacts what you do.

Speaker 1: 7:01

So, as we are in the month of breakthrough and we are celebrating that, right as we are in the month of breakthrough and we are celebrating that, right we are in the month of breakthrough we are looking for breakthrough in our mind.

Speaker 1: 7:10

So this week's prayer is all going to be about how we think. So we're going to start out as we always do. We always pause and give thanks to the Lord, because the word says he is good and his love endures forever. This is a why do we do this? This is a part of your heart, posture and submission. If you come in with a heart that's filled with a bitterness, you're not gonna be able to give thanks to the Lord because you don't think he's good. So there is even a formula, right. The way that we approach the throne of God is very different, right? So let's just take a minute to just give thanks, lord. We thank you, lord, for your word already. We thank you, lord, for what you have already done. You are good. I thank you for reminding us that we have free will and we have the choice.

Speaker 2: 7:55

And Lord this morning. I thank you for reminding us that, even with free will, you are still calling us to you. You are still reconciling us back to you it is in our mindset. And I thank you that you've given us the mind to think. You've given us the mind to think because you're not trying to just create clones or just followers.

Speaker 2: 8:17

It's not that you want us to do things with our hearts, so we thank you for being the kind of God that's not demanding of our flesh and our money, not in the way that the church is setting this up.

Speaker 1: 8:31

It's not about, you know, trying to be rich or make your pastor rich. It's coming to you, lord, with a heart posture and surrendering to you. So we thank you for just reminding us that you're after our hearts, that in our minds, the way we think and all those things impact what we do. So we thank you, lord, for being the kind of God that still opens the door for those of us who believe and those of us who, at times, don't believe. I thank you, lord, for giving us mercy for the times when we don't believe that you are good, when we are struggling to see your goodness. I thank you that you are such still a loving father, a great father, the great creator, oh Adonai, you are still such a mighty God that you still draw us onto you, even in those times, amen. So now we're going to confession. Almighty God, we acknowledge and confess that we have not. We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Speaker 1: 9:26

We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. Deep within us, the sorrow for the wrong we have done. Lord, you are full of compassion and gracious. You're full of anger and you're plenteous in mercy. There's always forgiveness with you. Restore to us the joy of your salvation.

Speaker 2: 9:46

Find out that which is broken give light to our minds and rest ourselves speak to each of us and let your word abide with us.

Speaker 1: 9:56

It is wrought in us, your holy will amen father I thank you for receiving our confession unto you, lord. You know what is truly in our hearts, and so we ask, lord God, that you will forgive us for any thoughts, words or deeds that we have said or done that has been unclean, impure and a sin in your sight. We thank you that you have received our confession, lord God, and that there is no condemnation in Christ. We thank you that the slate is wiped clean, lord God, and we thank you for your forgiveness. Amen, amen, amen. So the scriptures we're looking at is in 2 Corinthians 4, 1 through 6, and it says, therefore, having this ministry by the grace, by the mercy of God. He said grace. We do not lose heart, but we have. We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. We're talking about being enlightened and how we think. And even if our gospel is veiled to those who are perishing, everybody can't see it. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers and, dare I say, he's blinded the minds of some believers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel, of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, for what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake, for God he said let light shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So what I want us to really think about this month, as we're talking about breakthrough, it's not just breakthrough in your finance, it's not just breakthrough in your health, it's not just breakthrough in these material things. It's a breakthrough in the way we worship. It's a breakthrough in the way we think. It's a breakthrough in our relationship with this man, jesus. Or we forget that what we are called to do is to be the light of the gospel, of the glory of Christ. It's not necessarily just going into places, it's being more mindful of how you enter those places. And in the same way that the God of this world, the devil, can blind the minds of unbelievers, it's the same way he can do it to us. So our prayer, as we're leaning in this Monday, the first one, is 2 Corinthians 4. It says so we do not lose heart. First of all, when I read this, he said this is what he read to me First of all, shelly. So you don't lose heart.

Speaker 1: 12:38

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. I'm so thankful, lord, god, that all of the spiritual work that we have been doing, y'all it is actually paying off. I don't want you to, I don't want you to look at your situation, the things that's happening in your environment, and assume that God isn't working things out. He is working things out through you, in you, by you, around you, for you, amen. And your inner self is being renewed day by day. That is such, that is such, oh God, that's such encouragement, for this light, momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory, beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Speaker 1: 13:28

So our first prayer, if you're in the place where you feel like you're losing heart, is to say Father, I don't want to lose heart. If that's not your thing, then I want you to thank God. I thank you, lord, that my inner self, my inner man, is being renewed by you day by day. If that's not your prayer and you're in a momentary affliction, you just say Lord, I thank you that this is a momentary affliction, amen. So whatever it is, whatever it is in your that you're going through right now, I'm going to stop talking so y'all can go ahead and pray this over yourself again, and I'm going to just cover us while we pray. So I thank you, father, as we are opening our mouth now, we have entered into your throne and we are before you. I thank you, holy Spirit, for intervening on our behalf and, lord, you know the pain that's in our heart.

Speaker 1: 14:15

So, for those who are lifting their prayers before you, that holy perfume. I thank you, jesus, for receiving these prayers and interceding as our high priest now on their behalf. Lord, anything that they are praying, they are speaking these words according to your word that whatever they ask for, that you will answer. So, as they're praying for themselves now, lord, I ask that you will answer them directly, quickly and swiftly. In the name of Jesus. Thank you, lord. Go ahead and pray y'all. So, lord, so that we don't lose heart.

Speaker 1: 14:42

Lord God, I ask that you will, even in this month, in this month of breakthrough, that you will even remind them, give them a glimpse of where they've come from, lord God, so that they don't waste away in heart or be discouraged. But they have been renewed. Their inner man, their inner self, their spirit has been renewed day by day. That is only because of the work that you have done with us, holy Spirit. It's only because you have been our leader, our guide. It's only because of what you have done, truly, truly. This is your work, and we glorify you, lord Jesus, because this is all you.

Speaker 1: 15:16

This light, momentary affliction that we are in is still painful. So, lord God, I lift up every need, every person that's standing in need under the sound of my voice. That, though it might be light and momentary, it is still an affliction that, lord God, that you will enter into now. Enter into every single one of these areas, lord God, and open our eyes to see what is true about the situations that we're in and show us a way out. Father, I thank you that you have blessed us with your holy presence this morning, reminding us that we are the light of the world, and I thank you for renewing us. You've renewed our minds, you've renewed our hearts, you've renewed our thoughts. We're not thinking like we used to. We're not eating like we used to. We're not speaking like we used to. We are in alignment with what heaven has said about us.

Speaker 1: 16:05

So, lord, I just ask, as we are seeking breakthrough and coming to full completion, what you created us to do, who you created us to be, that's what we're seeking out, lord God, that you'll even bring it back to our memories, lord God, but I thank you for the renewal that you have done in every person, under the sound of my voice. I thank you for the changes, lord God. I thank you for the changes, lord God. I thank you for the blessings, lord God. I thank you for what you have done, lord. I thank you, lord God, protect them from things that are unseen. I ask, lord God, that you'll protect them from every enemy, as you always have Anything that has come to them in their minds, lord God, anything that was seeded or planted.

Speaker 1: 16:40

Enemies whispering and attack. Lord God, I ask that that is canceled. Now, by the name of Jesus Christ, every knee must bow and I thank you, lord God, that every word that is uttered against them right now, any incantation, any bit of gossip or hate, any word that was a weapon that was sent to it, doesn't matter where it came from it from family, from friends or from foe. Anything that was sent towards them to destroy them or to throw them off their path, anything that was telling them that they weren't good enough for you, anything, lord God, that was set against their minds to confuse them, that it is wiped out and destroyed now by the name of Jesus Christ. I thank you that this month of breakthrough is also a breakthrough, a month of healing in their minds, lord God, anything that was uttered from before that is a lie, that is canceled now in the name of Jesus. Thank you, lord, that you protect us, that you send your angels to fight for us, to war against the enemy, anything that is unseen, things that we cannot see with our natural eyes. Lord God, I ask that you will open their eyes and bless them. Lord God, in Jesus' name, amen, amen, thank you, lord. Thank you, lord, amen.

Speaker 1: 17:58

Ephesians 4. Amen, ephesians 4. Now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds. They're darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that's in them due to the hardness of the heart. Thank you, lord, for bringing it back to our heart.

Speaker 1: 18:20

So, father, as we're praying this prayer, we're gonna ask Lord God to soften your heart so that you can hear and understand what God is saying. If you have a hardened heart, if you have a bitter heart because you didn't get what you want, because you've been disappointed in life, it's gonna be very difficult for you to hear the Holy Spirit. Amen. So now just pray this prayer that you will have a softened heart so you can hear from the Holy Spirit. Father, as they are praying, I ask now that you will even shower them with a special protection, lord God, as they are shifting into this new month, into this new mode. Lord God, as they are softening their hearts so they can hear from you, jesus, so they can hear your voice. It's your voice that we are yearning for.

Speaker 1: 19:02

I thank you, lord God, that they are no longer alienated from you, that we are no longer separated from you because of our hearts being bitter or our hearts being hardened. Lord God, I thank you that you are even planting a seed of forgiveness in us to those who have wronged us, lord God, so that not only are we reconciling back to you, but we can reconcile these relationships, because they're messing with our mind. So, lord God, I ask that you will even give us a seed of forgiveness. Show us, lord God, we want to forgive those who have harmed us, those who have said things to us that's corrupted our minds, so that we can release it and let it go. So I thank you, lord, god, father, anything that has been planted in their minds, the futility of their minds, anything that has been confusing in scripture, that you will give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, so that it will be opened up to them like a flower, like a jewel, so they can see your word and know how it applies to their lives. I thank you, lord, for a change in our mind, a breakthrough in our mindset, the way we think, lord God, because not only is it affecting what we do, it's also affecting what we say concerning you and concerning your promises to us and our family.

Speaker 1: 20:14

So I thank you, lord, for this prayer this morning. I thank you for hearing us this morning. I thank you for blessing us this morning and shifting our gears. Lord God, amen us this morning. I thank you for blessing us this morning and shifting our gears. Lord God, amen, amen, amen. So now ask, now ask what you want. The word says whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith and Father as they utter their own prayers.

Speaker 1: 20:36

Lord God, I thank you for the wind. I thank you for the wind and protection. I thank you for the wind and protection that you provided for me. I thank you for what you have done. I thank you for the wind and protection that you provided for me. I thank you for what you have done. I thank you for your angels. I thank you for your encounters. Thank you for your guidance. I thank you for your light. I thank you for what you have done for us.

Speaker 1: 20:52

I thank you, lord God, for blessing us. I thank you for being a real, real, true God. You are the only one. We lift you, lord God. We thank you, Jehovah Jireh, for what you are doing for every family represented, lord, everyone that stands in need, lord, god, of whatever they stand in need of on their jobs. That, even today, every meeting will be successful. That everything, the enemy set up, that was going to be a trap, is destroyed now. I thank you that every application they submit will be seen by the hiring managers for the right job in the right place at the right time.

Speaker 1: 21:23

I thank you, lord God, that you are blessing their minds, lord God, so it'll be lighter, lord God, as they go in, that you put a shield of protection around their minds, lord God, so we don't lose hope, they don't lose heart. I thank you, lord God, that today they will see and hear from you in a mighty powerful and different way, that we are expecting breakthroughs, that your word stands true and your covenant with us stands true, lord God, and so we are holding you to that. We are holding you to what your word says about us, that you are the shepherd, the great shepherd, and so we follow you willingly. We know that you know what we want. We know that you understand the desires of our heart. So everything that they stand in need of, lord God, we lift that up to you now, for every family represented.

Speaker 1: 22:08

Lord God, that you will hear our cry, but not only will you hear it, you will answer. We believe that you are answering prayers right now. I believe that you have opened the book. You have answered prayers right now. I thank you, lord God, that you have heard our cry. You have answered prayers right now.

Speaker 1: 22:22

I thank you, lord God, that you have heard our cry. You've answered our prayers, lord God, and I pray that you open their ears so they can hear your answer, their eyes so they can see when your answer shows up in a person, in an opportunity, through an idea. Lord God, I thank you, lord God, that you're going to open doors today, lord God, and you're going to multiply their path everywhere they go, that they're going to walk in blessings today, Lord, let them be the light, no matter where they go. Lord God, that is my prayer that they be the light in this world. Father, I thank you that, as they, everywhere they put their feet, they light a path right back to you.

Speaker 1: 22:54

It is about giving glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, lord, amen. Thank you, lord. Thank you, lord, amen. Thank you, lord. Thank you lord. Thank you lord. Thank you lord. Thank you lord. Thank you lord. Thank you lord. Thank you lord. Thank you jesus. Thank you jesus. Thank you lord. Thank you lord. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Lord. Thank you, lord. All right, let's go to declaration. I declare this day that no weapon formed against me can prosper, because I am the righteousness of God.

Speaker 1: 23:31

Favor surrounds me as a shield. Divine protection surrounds me as a shield. I am therefore in the right place at the right time. I cannot be defeated or destroyed. Every tongue that attacks me I condemn with my words, this is my heritage, this is my life as a child of God Made in his image.

Speaker 2: 23:53

He used his dominion and authority. Living in me.

Speaker 1: 23:58

I declare today that Satan has no power over my life. Every weapon he has has been defeated.

Speaker 2: 24:04

That fear is cast out. That love makes my faith, for I cannot face.

Speaker 1: 24:10

God's word cannot fail.

Speaker 2: 24:11

And that's what I'm made of His word, made in his image After his likeness.

Speaker 1: 24:17

With the power of the Holy Spirit and authority of his word. Therefore, by the blood of Jesus, I dwell in the secret place of the Holy Spirit and authority of his word. Therefore, by the blood of Jesus, I dwell in the secret place of the Most High. I will find under the shadow of the Almighty.

Speaker 2: 24:29

I say, of the.

Speaker 1: 24:30

Lord, you are my refuge and my fortress my God in you I will trust.

Speaker 2: 24:36

You are my refuge and my fortress, my God. In you I will trust.

Speaker 1: 24:42

Thank you, lord. Lord, what your word says about us is true and so even in our minds. Would you plant that seed in our minds so we never forget what you say about us? We thank you, lord, god, that your word is true about us. We are the head and not the tail. Would you plant those thoughts? Would you even remove every single thought of doubt, anything that, anytime a doubt pops up, that would? Would you bring these words back to our memory, even if it's just a one line, lord? Would you just replace any, any seed, any piece of doubt?

Speaker 1: 25:15

The same way Thomas was doubtful, lord, would you replace that seed of doubt with what your word says about us, so we can really live out this season of breakthrough. We don't want to go back, we don't want to step back, we want to move forward. We want to move forward into the greatness that you have for us. We want to be the light and the breakthrough and the blessing in our family. Lord, god, would you plant that seed in our hearts, lord, god, in our hearts and our mind, what your word says about us, so that every time we come across a situation that will cause a doubt, anytime we come across any piece of unbelief. That, lord God, that we will think, we will consider what your word says about us and not go backwards. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Now we're going to benediction.

Speaker 2: 26:03

Ephesians 3, 20 to 21 says now to him who is able to do far more than all that we ask or think, according to the power and work within us.

Speaker 1: 26:14

We can be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever.

Speaker 2: 26:20

And ever Amen Amen.

Speaker 1: 26:23

All right, I'm going to stop sharing. Here we go Stop.