SPEAKER_00: Before we get into the word, let's just take a moment and go before the Lord in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we're so grateful for Lord everything that you're doing in this season.
SPEAKER_00: Father, and grateful that you've called us into your kingdom for such a time as this.
SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you tonight.
SPEAKER_00: Father, that we we get to come and and to partake of your word.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I thank you that uh it's not me speaking, but Holy Spirit, it's you speaking through me tonight.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we just um set our hearts and our minds and our ears and our eyes, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We just say, Lord, open them so that we can see, we can hear, and we can receive everything that you have for us to receive tonight.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Well, how many of you know that 2026 around here at Glorious Way Church is an exciting time?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We received a word of the Lord at the beginning of the year from our pastor through our pastor that 2026 was the year of new things.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, I don't know about you, but I just I get excited uh about what God wants to do in this year, not just through us collectively as a body, uh, as the church, but also what God wants to do uh in us and through us individually.
SPEAKER_00: And so tonight I want to uh dive into the word of God, looking, and it's and it's real interesting.
SPEAKER_00: Last year was the year of milestones, and every time the Lord would give me something to share, um, as I would prepare for it, He would prepare, He would prepare me by having me read through the lens of milestones.
SPEAKER_00: And so this year, as I started to prepare for tonight, I begin to read it through the lens of 2026, the year of new things.
SPEAKER_00: And so tonight we're gonna dive into the word of God and um look at it through the lens of new things and how God operates.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna look at that through the life of Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you will, turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 18, and we're gonna look at how God did a new thing in the progression or the process of receiving that new thing uh as God worked through Elijah the prophet.
SPEAKER_00: And so let me set this up for you.
SPEAKER_00: In chapter 17 of 1 Kings, uh we see that uh Elijah had proclaimed a drought over the land, uh, and he was telling this to the king who was King Ahab at the time.
SPEAKER_00: And in chapter 17, um, it talks about how King Ahab was so evil and did so many uh ungodly things and unholy things to dishonor God and to displease God.
SPEAKER_00: And so God gave Ahab a word and said, Tell him that there's gonna be a drought in the land.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, oftentimes God would judge and his judgment would come in ways where where the people were affected, and so we see that there was a drought.
SPEAKER_00: And so in chapter 17 of 1 Kings, uh Elijah tells King Ahab, he said to Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years except at my word.
SPEAKER_00: Now, first of all, I want I want to point out how powerful, what an how powerfully anointed Elijah was and how God used him in such a mighty way.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah told King Ahab, There will not be a drop of rain, not even dew, unless I say so.
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty powerful.
SPEAKER_00: And so then we go to chapter 18 in 1 King, and we see that God is ready to rel to end the drought.
SPEAKER_00: And so he tells uh Elijah in verse 1 of chapter 18, and it says, And it came to pass uh after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Now think about that, there have been three years of drought.
SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's a long time.
SPEAKER_00: And not only was there three years of drought, there was also a great famine.
SPEAKER_00: Just think about it, because there was drought, there was famine, because there was they were not able to produce uh any any food.
SPEAKER_00: Uh livestock was suffering and all kinds of things going on.
SPEAKER_00: So the impact of that drought was pretty significant and substantial, but God's ready to do a new thing.
SPEAKER_00: And so he tells Elijah, go to Ahab and tell him in the third year, go present yourself to Ahab and say, I will send rain on the earth.
SPEAKER_00: And so Ahab goes and he does what the Lord tells him, and he tells him that God is going to bring rain, God is going to finally bring some relief, that the judge, the time of judgment is over.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's go go fast forward to verse 41, and that's where I want to spend the rest of the evening talking about the new things and how God did it through Ahab, uh, through Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: And so, verse 41 of 1 Kings chapter um chapter 18, it says, And then Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 42.
SPEAKER_00: So Ahab went up to drink, to eat and drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the east, look toward the sea.
SPEAKER_00: So he went up and looked and said, There is nothing.
SPEAKER_00: And seven times he said, Go again.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 44.
SPEAKER_00: Then it came to pass the seventh time that he said, There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising out of the sea.
SPEAKER_00: So he said, Go up, say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.
SPEAKER_00: Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain.
SPEAKER_00: So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
SPEAKER_00: There the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's go back and look at that same passage of scriptures and let's unpack it.
SPEAKER_00: I like to treasure hunt when I when I get in the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to I want to do a little deep dive here, and we're gonna do a little treasure hunting tonight.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to pull out some nuggets out of this as I was reading this.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, wow, especially reading it through the lens of God doing new things.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's go back and let's look at that, starting at verse 41, and it says, Then Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we look at verse 41, there's several things I want to point out.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing that we see that Elijah is giving Ahab instructions, the first thing he's saying is, get ready, get up, go eat and drink, prepare yourself.
SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna receive all that God has for you in 2026, being the year of new things, there's preparation that has to take place.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to prepare yourself.
SPEAKER_00: The next thing we see is Elijah tells Ahab, go up, eat and drink.
SPEAKER_00: So we see that there is it's necessary, nourishment is vital.
SPEAKER_00: If we're gonna receive all that God has for us in this year, it is vital that we nourish ourselves through the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Nourishment is essential.
SPEAKER_00: Nourishment is not optional, it's necessary.
SPEAKER_00: Nourish yourself.
SPEAKER_00: For there is the sound of abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: Now notice Elijah didn't say, Well, I think I think it may rain.
SPEAKER_00: I'm hoping it's going to rain.
SPEAKER_00: He stated what he heard.
SPEAKER_00: For there is the sound of abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: If we're gonna receive all that God has for us in this year, all of the new things that he wants to do in us and through us, we're gonna have to get busy declaring some things.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have to get busy agreeing with God.
SPEAKER_00: We it's not enough to just nod our head in agree, but we've got to say it.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to say it.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to verbally agree with God's plan for 2026 being the year of new things.
SPEAKER_00: I was sharing with the staff this morning at prayer that one of my declarations concerning, one of my confessions concerning 2026 is 2026 the year of new things, but I took it one step forward.
SPEAKER_00: I said 2026 is the year of good new things.
SPEAKER_00: And somebody said, Well, how are you gonna justify or clarify that?
SPEAKER_00: I said, easy.
SPEAKER_00: And Jeremiah, he said, For I know the thoughts and the plans that I have for you, they are good and not evil.
SPEAKER_00: And so 2026 is not only gonna be the year of new things, but it's gonna be the year of good new things.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So we've got to get busy saying some things.
SPEAKER_00: So we see that Elijah told Ahab, get up, go eat and drink, for there is a sound.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, he is speaking what he's hearing, he's declaring it, he's ex he's he's speaking it.
SPEAKER_00: Why is that so important?
SPEAKER_00: Because over in Romans chapter 14, chapter 4, verse 17 in the scripture, declaration and confessing is important.
SPEAKER_00: We all know the story of Abraham and how at a very old age, both he and Sarah, God promised him a son.
SPEAKER_00: And in the natural, it didn't look like that could happen.
SPEAKER_00: In the natural, it looked impossible.
SPEAKER_00: But how many of you know that all things are possible to those that believe?
SPEAKER_00: With man, with God.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I choose to stay on the side of with God where all things are possible.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh Romans chapter 4, 17, it says this.
SPEAKER_00: It says that this, and I'm reading from the New Living Translation, it says, that is what the scripture means when God told him, I have made you the father of many nations.
SPEAKER_00: God told Abraham, I'm gonna make you the father of many nations.
SPEAKER_00: He said, if you can count the number of grains of sand, that's how many how many your descendants will be.
SPEAKER_00: That was a promise.
SPEAKER_00: Now, God wasn't speaking that and saying, but I don't know, Abraham, I really want to do this, but you're kind of old.
SPEAKER_00: No, God was speaking that irregardless of what Abraham's situation looked like.
SPEAKER_00: He was speaking that.
SPEAKER_00: And so Abraham believed the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things.
SPEAKER_00: I love that translation.
SPEAKER_00: New things, 2026, being the year of new things, creates new things out of nothing.
SPEAKER_00: And so we see that Abraham, that Elijah, out of his words, we're beginning to create new things.
SPEAKER_00: There's an abundance, there's a sound of rain, and not just a sound, but an abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: And so, in order to be able to speak what you believe or what you're receiving or what you're hearing, first of all, you've got to identify some things.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, sound.
SPEAKER_00: When he talks about sound, well, let's talk about sound for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: Is sound something you hear?
SPEAKER_00: Well, if we're gonna hear what God has for us this year, if we're gonna receive the new things that God has for us this year, we've got to hear some things.
SPEAKER_00: And in order to hear some things, we're gonna have to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us through God's word.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us as we spend time praying, as we spend time worshiping.
SPEAKER_00: But we're gonna have to hear something.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe God is ready to speak something.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have to tune into this frequency of the sound by and with the help of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And so first you have to hear it in the Spirit first, and then once you hear it in the Spirit, by the help of the Holy Spirit, then you can speak it.
SPEAKER_00: And notice you have to be specific.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't say I hear rain, he said I hear an abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: So you have to speak specifically.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you know God is a God of specifics?
SPEAKER_00: So we have to speak specifically.
SPEAKER_00: I speak an abund, I hear an abundance of rain, not a little rain, but an abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what does that represent?
SPEAKER_00: A great harvest is coming.
SPEAKER_00: Enough that the drought will seem like it wasn't a drought.
SPEAKER_00: That's what that tells me: an abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what does the abundance of rain represent?
SPEAKER_00: If we stop for a minute and just look at deep, just do a little bit of a deep dive in the rain and what how the significance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, the word rain appears 118 times in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of rain.
SPEAKER_00: And biblical significance of rain kind of it falls out several different ways.
SPEAKER_00: Rain is a multifaceted symbol in scripture representing both divine favor and also powerful judgment.
SPEAKER_00: We see that, that the reason God sent Elijah to tell Ahab, I'm gonna bring rain, I'm gonna provide rain, is because there had been in a drought for three years, because God used Elijah to tell Ahab there will be no rain.
SPEAKER_00: And so we see both.
SPEAKER_00: We see finally the uh divine blessing and favor has come when Elijah goes to Ahab and says, God's gonna bring God's gonna produce rain, but we also see where judgment had taken place where there was no rain.
SPEAKER_00: And so rain plays a significant.
SPEAKER_00: Well, think about that in our lives today.
SPEAKER_00: How important is rain to us?
SPEAKER_00: It's important.
SPEAKER_00: So we understand that that rain is significant because it represents divine provision and blessing, but it also represents judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the symbol of rain uh in the Holy Spirit and God's word, the outpouring of rain, is often used as a metaphor of the Holy Spirit being poured out on believers of the life-giving church, uh, and it's the nature of God's uh teachings.
SPEAKER_00: But then also, as I just mentioned, it also talks about rain and being God's judgment.
SPEAKER_00: There's some scriptures here I want, I just want to give you to note, and I want to encourage you to read them as you do a little bit more studying on the uh significance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a scripture, Genesis chapter 7, verse 4, describes the rain of the great flood as an act of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: You all know that story.
SPEAKER_00: Deuteronomy chapter 11, 14.
SPEAKER_00: It's a promise of seasonal rains as a reward of faithful obedience.
SPEAKER_00: God oftentimes would speak to the children of Israel and promise and reward them as they were obedient, as they were faithful to obey his word and faithful to act upon the things that he called them to do.
SPEAKER_00: In Matthew chapter 5, verse 45, it highlights God's common grace, noting that he sends rain on both the just and the unjust.
SPEAKER_00: God's faithful, he's also merciful.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We've all needed God's mercy.
SPEAKER_00: Am I the only one?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And then also in James chapter 5, verse 7, rain is used in the illustration of the former.
SPEAKER_00: We're waiting for rain as an illustration of patient faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so those are some good scriptures to study as you as you do a little research on the significance and the importance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's get back to um, let's get back to our primary scripture here over in 1 Kings chapter 18, and we're going to pick up on verse 42.
SPEAKER_00: And so we see in verse 41, Elijah told Ahab, get up, go eat, go drink, go nourish yourself, go refresh yourself, for I hear the sound of an abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: And so in verse 42, so Ahab went up to eat and drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel where he bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees.
SPEAKER_00: Now there are two things here, two different contrasts.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, I want to point this out priorities matter.
SPEAKER_00: If we're going to receive all that God has for us, if we're going to walk in the fullness of the new things that God has for us, priorities matter.
SPEAKER_00: Ahab had one priority.
SPEAKER_00: He had to go nourish himself and refresh himself.
SPEAKER_00: Go eat, go drink.
SPEAKER_00: But notice what Elijah did.
SPEAKER_00: The scripture says that Elijah went up to the top of Carmel where he bowed down.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is the same mountain where he had just, they had just seen a mighty move of God, and God manifest an answer in such a way that he came down and consumed this sacrifice where all of these other prophets of Baal were worshiping the false God, had been cutting themselves and all kinds of things, and they got no response.
SPEAKER_00: And then God shows up in this mighty way, and the whole people, all of the people, turned back to God.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's that same mountain that that Elijah goes up on to pray.
SPEAKER_00: He puts his puts his face between his knees.
SPEAKER_00: That's a posture of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: He spoke the word.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to point out a couple of things.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, priorities matter, Ahab went up to go eat and drink.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah went to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Notice Elijah's posture was that of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's something that's important.
SPEAKER_00: If you're going to receive what God has for you, it's not enough to just speak the word.
SPEAKER_00: When you get the word, yes, you need to speak it, you need to agree with it, but you also need to stay in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: You need to maintain that posture of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 43.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.
SPEAKER_00: Now notice Elijah was very specific in instructions.
SPEAKER_00: The instructions of the strategy, if you're going to receive what God has for you, Pastor started the year off after he gave the word.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing he did was give us some instructions.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody remember what those instructions were?
SPEAKER_00: To ask, to seek, and to knock.
SPEAKER_00: To ask God, what is it that you need to do right now?
SPEAKER_00: Ask God to show you things that you need to let go of.
SPEAKER_00: Pray, spend time in the word, hearing from the Lord, specifically on things that you must do.
SPEAKER_00: And so notice Elijah got clear instructions on which direction to look for the rain that he heard.
SPEAKER_00: He told his servant, go up and look toward the sea.
SPEAKER_00: The instructions or strategy will come during prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Don't stop short of the instructions.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, don't get part of the instruction, but get all of the instructions.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you know God operates on a need-to-know basis?
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's interesting because sometimes we as humans we want to see the whole picture.
SPEAKER_00: We want to see the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not how God always operates.
SPEAKER_00: I remember one time I was driving and it was dark, and I was praying and just talking to the Lord about something, and I was um asking the Lord, because I really wanted to know the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: I knew He He wanted me to do something, and I kind of had a little bit of it, but I wanted to have the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: And so I was asking the Lord, Lord, when are you going to show me the whole thing?
SPEAKER_00: And so he said, Well, let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_00: He said, How far down the road are your head do your headlights project?
SPEAKER_00: And I told him.
SPEAKER_00: I described a place that my headlights projected and I could see.
SPEAKER_00: He said, So what happens when you get to that point?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, the headlight projects a little bit further to get me further down the road.
SPEAKER_00: He said, That's how I operate on a need-to-know basis.
SPEAKER_00: Let me get you to the first place that I need you to get to, and then I'll tell you what you need to do to get to the next place.
SPEAKER_00: But those instructions come when you stay in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: The first step, the second step, the third step, the next step.
SPEAKER_00: They stay, they come when you stay in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: God's strategy will be revealed to you when you stay prayerful.
SPEAKER_00: So don't stop short of the instructions.
SPEAKER_00: Get all that God will reveal and don't get in a hurry.
SPEAKER_00: So he said to his servant, Go up and look toward the sea.
SPEAKER_00: That was verse 43.
SPEAKER_00: So he went up and looked and said, There is nothing.
SPEAKER_00: And seven times he, being Elijah, said, Go again.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's really important that if you're going to receive everything that God has for you this year, the new the new things, the good things, the great things, the awesome things, the incredible things, you cannot get trapped or distracted by the negative reports.
SPEAKER_00: There's always going to be a negative report.
SPEAKER_00: There's always going to be something that the devil's going to throw at you to discourage you and to distract you and to to to to uh to delay you, to trick you, to trip you up.
SPEAKER_00: So don't get trapped or focused.
SPEAKER_00: Don't get trapped or distracted by the negative reports.
SPEAKER_00: Whose report will you believe?
SPEAKER_00: We shall believe the report of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Whose word will you believe?
SPEAKER_00: What did God?
SPEAKER_00: God said, I'm gonna bring rain.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah said, Okay, Lord, you're gonna bring rain.
SPEAKER_00: I hear it.
SPEAKER_00: But what he heard and what was reported didn't quite line up.
SPEAKER_00: So the servant, don't get trapped on that.
SPEAKER_00: Set your focus on what you've heard, the promise.
SPEAKER_00: Get your eyes fixed on that.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I am not gonna be moved by what I hear or what it looks like, what it sounds like.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if the devil's whispering, well, you know, we're we're in the first quarter of the of the new year and hadn't seen anything happen yet.
SPEAKER_00: Haven't happened yet.
SPEAKER_00: No new things have happened yet.
SPEAKER_00: No good things have happened yet.
SPEAKER_00: Are you sure God's gonna do that?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he didn't mean that for you.
SPEAKER_00: Tell the devil to shut up and go pound saying that word was for you.
SPEAKER_00: Did you receive that word and that promise for you?
SPEAKER_00: Are you expecting God to do something?
SPEAKER_00: Then don't get tramped or distracted by the negative reports.
SPEAKER_00: Set your focus on what you've heard.
SPEAKER_00: See what you believe.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you're gonna have to look through the eyes of faith.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah looked through the eyes of faith and he was able to hear after he saw.
SPEAKER_00: I hear an abundance.
SPEAKER_00: I hear the sound of an abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, if he heard it, he had to see it.
SPEAKER_00: And so you have to see what you believe through the eyes of faith.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you need to allow your faith to partner with your imagination.
SPEAKER_00: We don't, as believers, we don't believe to see, we don't see it, we don't see, we don't see it to believe it, we believe to see it.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna have to allow our faith to partner with our imagination.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have to keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.
SPEAKER_00: We see that Elijah told his servant, how many times to go back?
SPEAKER_00: Seven.
SPEAKER_00: Go back, look again, look again, look again.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter seven, verse seven says, Keep asking.
SPEAKER_00: Asking it will be given to you.
SPEAKER_00: Seek and you will find.
SPEAKER_00: Knocking, it will be open to you.
SPEAKER_00: Now let me point out something there on the asking, the seeking and the knocking.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's real easy to get in a habit of keep asking God, but here at Glorious Way Church, we believe we receive.
SPEAKER_00: When we ask the first time, we receive it then.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We believe we receive.
SPEAKER_00: So when you keep asking, you're not asking from a posture of Lord, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me.
SPEAKER_00: No, Lord, I thank you that you heard me the first time.
SPEAKER_00: This is the confidence that we have when we pray according to God's word.
SPEAKER_00: He hears us, and if he hears us, then we have that thing we petition for.
SPEAKER_00: And so when you continue to ask, seek and knock, you're not asking, Lord, give me, God, Lord, I hope you heard me.
SPEAKER_00: No, Lord, I thank you that you've already you've already heard me and that you've honored that petition.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you, Lord, that it's coming forth.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you, Father, that I'm gonna receive what you have in store for me.
SPEAKER_00: And so you're gonna receive all that God has for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so you keep asking, you keep knocking, you keep pressing.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that he had to say that he had that the report was nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Faith says, I'm gonna press in and I'm not gonna quit until I get it.
SPEAKER_00: 2026 is the year of the new things for me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna have my new things, I'm gonna have my good new things.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna receive anything other than that.
SPEAKER_00: That's my declaration, that's my confession.
SPEAKER_00: Seven times.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 43, seven times he said, Go again.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what does that speak?
SPEAKER_00: Seven times.
SPEAKER_00: Consistency.
SPEAKER_00: If we're gonna receive all that God has in store for us in this year, the good things, the new things, if we're gonna see that come come to pass, we've got to stay consistent.
SPEAKER_00: And not only do we have to case stay consistent, we've got to be persistent.
SPEAKER_00: I you know, I when I think about this, I think about the woman that kept going before the judge.
SPEAKER_00: You know the parable just.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus told about the woman that kept going before to the judge, avenge me, avenge me, avenge me, avenge me, avenge me, avenge me.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this judge wasn't even a godly man.
SPEAKER_00: He even said so.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a godly man.
SPEAKER_00: But because she keeps coming before me, she wearies me.
SPEAKER_00: She's wearing me out.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you got to be like that woman and just wear God out.
SPEAKER_00: You're not really wearing him out, but you got to show God you mean business.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, that's your promise.
SPEAKER_00: I'm hanging on to that.
SPEAKER_00: That bulldog tenacity.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna let go.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be consistent in my faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be persistent in coming before you.
SPEAKER_00: And what you're persistent changes the whole trajectory and the dynamics of what you're believing for, because now you're not begging God, but you're thanking God.
SPEAKER_00: You're worshiping God, you're praising God.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you're acting like it's already done.
SPEAKER_00: Seven times he had to go.
SPEAKER_00: The other thing that I see about Elijah there is seven times meant he was not willing to quit or to give up.
SPEAKER_00: It's so easy nowadays to give up.
SPEAKER_00: The minute you get a report that's contrary to what you've what you're believing for, what the promise says, oh well, I guess that's gone.
SPEAKER_00: I guess I'm gonna just give up on that.
SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll just let that go.
SPEAKER_00: I I don't think that's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: No, stay in there.
SPEAKER_00: Don't quit.
SPEAKER_00: Don't give up.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you have to, you know, I I I I remember um Dotie Osteen's.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of you know who she is.
SPEAKER_00: She's going to be with the Lord, but I remember when she was fight, literally fighting for her life, metastatic cancer of the liver.
SPEAKER_00: The doctors had done all they could do, and they finally said there's nothing we could do.
SPEAKER_00: And they told her and her husband, Pastor John Osteen, it's gonna take a miracle.
SPEAKER_00: He said, We'll get one.
SPEAKER_00: And Miss Dodie, I remember when she was when she was so weak and so sick, and all she could do, she literally put the Bible down on the floor and stand on it and say, Lord, I'm standing on your word.
SPEAKER_00: I'm standing on your word.
SPEAKER_00: And she believed God, even when everything in the natural said, I see nothing.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing there, there's no healing there.
SPEAKER_00: But she got her healing and she lived a long life and then finally went home.
SPEAKER_00: She was persistent, so don't quit.
SPEAKER_00: She was persistent, don't give up.
SPEAKER_00: Galatians chapter 6, verse 9 says, and let us not go weary, don't get tired while doing good.
SPEAKER_00: For in due season, I said for in due season, in du e season.
SPEAKER_00: 2026 is the year of new things.
SPEAKER_00: This is a due season.
SPEAKER_00: For in due season.
SPEAKER_00: We shall.
SPEAKER_00: Now I like this scripture.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of my favorite scriptures because we shall is an absolute.
SPEAKER_00: It didn't say we might, it didn't say maybe we can.
SPEAKER_00: It didn't say I hope you will.
SPEAKER_00: But it says if you don't get tired and don't quit, you shall reap, you shall receive, you shall have.
SPEAKER_00: If oh well, okay, there's an if.
SPEAKER_00: If you faint now, if you don't quit, if you don't give up.
SPEAKER_00: Now, how many of you know the devil's job is to get you to do just that?
SPEAKER_00: That's his job to get you to quit.
SPEAKER_00: That's his job to get you to stop.
SPEAKER_00: That's his job to get to get you out of the posture of faith and prayer and standing on the word and believing the word and nourishing yourself with the word.
SPEAKER_00: That's his job.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: He wants to distract you.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, there's a progression.
SPEAKER_00: And I shared this message quite some time ago, but I think it's very it it fits here.
SPEAKER_00: There's six D's in the strategy of the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing he wants to do is to deceive you.
SPEAKER_00: Why does he want to deceive us?
SPEAKER_00: To distract us.
SPEAKER_00: Distract us from what?
SPEAKER_00: The very call and plan of God.
SPEAKER_00: So he wants to deceive, he wants to distract.
SPEAKER_00: Why does he want to distract to delay?
SPEAKER_00: How many of you know this is a time of doing, being busy, engaged in kingdom work?
SPEAKER_00: There's a harvest to bring in.
SPEAKER_00: There's souls to be saved.
SPEAKER_00: There's gospel to be preached.
SPEAKER_00: So he wants to deceive, he wants to distract.
SPEAKER_00: Why does he want to distract to deceive?
SPEAKER_00: Distract, delay, to delay you.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: To deny you, to deny you of your God-given rights.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus hung on that cross and when his blood was shed for you, he did that, and a whole lot of things came with that.
SPEAKER_00: David said, Bless the Lord all my soul, and all that's within me, and bless his holy name, bless the Lord all my soul, and forget not all of his benefits.
SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of benefits that came with what he did on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: The devil doesn't want you to fulfill the plan and the purposes of God's life.
SPEAKER_00: God didn't just call you here to sit and soak.
SPEAKER_00: We've got work to do.
SPEAKER_00: So the devil wants to deceive you, to distract you, to delay you, to deny you.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: To disqualify you.
SPEAKER_00: And actually, you don't even have to do that with something you do.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes you disqualify yourself with something you say.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah could have very easily, when the servant came back and said, I see nothing, I see nothing.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Okay, thank you for going checking.
SPEAKER_00: Have a seat.
SPEAKER_00: Guess I miss God.
SPEAKER_00: No, he was so determined to see the fulfillment of what he had, what the Lord had spoken to him, he said, Look again, look again, look again.
SPEAKER_00: Now I could see that servant rolling his eyes.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I can't believe this.
SPEAKER_00: I keep going, and it's the same report.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.
SPEAKER_00: But the seventh time.
SPEAKER_00: The seventh time.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 44.
SPEAKER_00: Then it came to pass, the seventh time, that he said, Who said it?
SPEAKER_00: The servant.
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine the servant came back?
SPEAKER_00: You are not gonna believe this.
SPEAKER_00: I know every time I came back, every time I went and looked, I told you that was nothing, and that was nothing.
SPEAKER_00: But this time there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, raising out of the sea.
SPEAKER_00: So when did the when did the breakthrough come?
SPEAKER_00: When did the miracle come?
SPEAKER_00: The seventh time.
SPEAKER_00: After going to look, after being consistent.
SPEAKER_00: So when is your your your year of good things gonna happen?
SPEAKER_00: After you continue to be consistent and you don't quit and you don't give up.
SPEAKER_00: Now I can't tell you how many times you're gonna have to stay, or you're gonna have to go, or you may have to speak the word over it, but keep doing it.
SPEAKER_00: Because it came after he continued.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't give up.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't tell the servant, appreciate you going to check.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Yes and no, keep going, keep looking, keep looking.
SPEAKER_00: And he confirmed, the servant confirmed the promise.
SPEAKER_00: He said, There is, wow, there is a cloud.
SPEAKER_00: He went from nothing, I see nothing, I see nothing, I see nothing, I see nothing.
SPEAKER_00: All of a sudden, I see something.
SPEAKER_00: There is a cloud.
SPEAKER_00: Man, you're not gonna believe this, but there is a cloud.
SPEAKER_00: Woo-hoo, there's a cloud.
SPEAKER_00: But I gotta tell you, it's just the size of a man's hand, a little small.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, we don't have to worry about the size of it.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to worry about what it looks like.
SPEAKER_00: There is.
SPEAKER_00: That's all we need to focus on is there is that's a promise.
SPEAKER_00: There is 2026, the year of new things, is loading.
SPEAKER_00: There is a cloud.
SPEAKER_00: There is that is so significant.
SPEAKER_00: That can that that declaration verified, solidified the very thing that Elijah had been speaking.
SPEAKER_00: There is, you're right, there is.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have to believe and start speaking.
SPEAKER_00: There is, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: There is healing in my body, there's money in my bank account.
SPEAKER_00: I see my children sitting in church serving the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: There is, I see relationships being restored.
SPEAKER_00: There is, even if it's a small step, do not despise small beginnings, do not despise why?
SPEAKER_00: Because if we read a little bit further, he said, I see a cloud as small as a man's hand, and it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain.
SPEAKER_00: Heavy, the abundance of rain, the abundance of rain, a heavy rain.
SPEAKER_00: And so we see we went from the confirmation to the manifestation of the promise.
SPEAKER_00: But it happened after Elijah was consistent and persistent in telling that servant, go look again, go look again, go look again.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care that this is the third quarter of the new year and nothing has happened yet.
SPEAKER_00: I hadn't seen anything, go look again.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if I've been to the doctor three times this year already and the report is the same.
SPEAKER_00: Go look again.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if every time I talk to my child about coming to church and they give me the same answer that they're not interested, go look again, ask them again.
SPEAKER_00: And there will be, there is a cloud, there is a breakthrough, there is a turning, the prodigal's coming home.
SPEAKER_00: There is help, there is deliverance, there is healing, the manifestation of the word, the promise happened.
SPEAKER_00: So verse 45 says, and when it happened, in the meantime, this talks about the sky and the cloud.
SPEAKER_00: So Ahab, who had been told it was going to happen, jumped in his chariot and rode away and went to Jezreel.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 46.
SPEAKER_00: Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah and he girded himself.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is very important for 2026 in receiving the new things.
SPEAKER_00: He girded him, he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
SPEAKER_00: Now, you gotta understand, Ahab went down on a chariot, got down quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah tied up his garment, girded himself, and ran.
SPEAKER_00: How far, how far was that?
SPEAKER_00: 30 miles.
SPEAKER_00: And he beat the king's chariot.
SPEAKER_00: 30 miles.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of us, if we we run one mile, half a mile, we wheezing and we we about to pass out, and oh I need some water.
SPEAKER_00: 30 miles.
SPEAKER_00: When the R-A-I-N comes, the R-A-I-G-N happens.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_00: When the R-A-I-N, when the rain, R-A-I-N comes, the R-A-I-G-N, the rain, in other words, reigning in power, able to do supernatural things.
SPEAKER_00: For you or I am able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I could ask a thing by his power that's at work in me.
SPEAKER_00: Flowing in new ways.
SPEAKER_00: 2026, the year of new things, flowing in ways you've not you've not experienced before, moving in in ways you've not moved before.
SPEAKER_00: Revelation and understanding and knowledge and things you've not understood before.
SPEAKER_00: That's what God wants to do this year in the year of new things.
SPEAKER_00: But there's something there that we need to see.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah girded himself up.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to gird yourself up.
SPEAKER_00: Don't stop when you see the breakthrough.
SPEAKER_00: Don't stop when you get the confirmation.
SPEAKER_00: I see a cloud.
SPEAKER_00: Don't stop there.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you've passed that test.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's time for the next test.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's time for the next level.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that you did there was to get you to this place, and now he's preparing you for the next place.
SPEAKER_00: Don't stop.
SPEAKER_00: It's okay to rejoice and to celebrate and praise, but don't stop.
SPEAKER_00: Keep moving.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, God, we got this mountain.
SPEAKER_00: What do you got for me next?
SPEAKER_00: What do you have for me next?
SPEAKER_00: Gird yourself up.
SPEAKER_00: Prepare for the next level, the next new thing.
SPEAKER_00: 2026, the year of new things, not new thing.
SPEAKER_00: I believe God wants to surprise us with more than one thing.
SPEAKER_00: For some of you, there's going to be a domino and a ripple effect.
SPEAKER_00: One thing happens and then something else will happen.
SPEAKER_00: One breakthrough will happen, or one door opens, and then something else will happen, and another door opens, and then another door opens.
SPEAKER_00: Gird yourself up.
SPEAKER_00: With this, we see that new strength and new might came to Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: He was able to run 30 miles and beat Ahab and his chariot down to the city.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: 2026, the year of new things.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to stay consistent.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to stay persistent.
SPEAKER_00: We can't give up.
SPEAKER_00: Don't get discouraged.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care what it looks like.
SPEAKER_00: I hear the sound of the abundance of rain.
SPEAKER_00: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's just raise our hand.
SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for that word.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for that word.
unknown: Amen.