The Church Needs to Wake Up

Do you feel like the Church has become distracted, comfortable, or spiritually asleep?

In this episode, we talk honestly about the current condition of the Church and the personal call for believers to wake up, return to God, and step into what He is calling them to do.

This is a message about conviction, purpose, obedience, and spiritual renewal in a time when many feel passive or disconnected.

My prayer is that this episode draws you closer to the Lord, stirs your faith, and gives you clarity for the season you are in.

If this episode speaks to you, feel free to reach out or connect with me on social media.
Love you all and praying for you 🤍

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone, welcome back to Janelle and Jesus. Of course, I am Janelle, and we always have our Jesus. I'm usually a little bit more upbeat in my intros, but I just have this groaning on my heart and in my spirit. I just there's so much heaviness to it, and I think it has to do with the situations going on in this world that we're facing and the evil that is arising that we're at least seeing it's been there, right? But we're it's being exposed. And today I wanted to talk about like what it means to wait with purpose because I've been currently in a waiting season, if you will. Not necessarily that I'm I'm waiting for anything specific, but I I am waiting on the Lord to move in areas that He has told me that there would be breakthrough and kind of what that looks like for me and what the Bible says on that, you know. Um, I wanted to talk about David and his season of growth, right? And I think we will touch on that. I hope. I mean, I I prepared some stuff, but man, I really just it's sitting so heavily on my heart, just the conditions of the world and the cry of the Lord, really. I think lately, the last couple weeks, honestly, even months, I've been having a lot of visions and a lot of just some intercession time of honestly heartbreak. Um the the Lord's heart is just broken for his people, and as Christians, it's it's kind of our job to shine his light, right? And you know, it's funny because I always film these intro. I mean, always, I've literally I have three episodes, but every time I've filmed an episode, I have restarted like halfway through, I have restarted the entire podcast or whatever this is because I feel like I'm rambling, or I feel like I'm not conveying my message correctly and all these things. And I've decided from today on I am not going to redo it. Whatever I speak out, the Lord will grace and bless. And I just want to be vulnerable, I want to be real with what I'm feeling. Like that's what this channel is, that's what this community that I want to build is, is is it's just honest and real and raw, right? And I can't say that it's gonna be a raw, real, and honest community if I am not the one that is initiating that, right? So man, my heart has just been broken over the state of the world, the hatred towards one another, and the absolute, absolute evil that is arising and the burden, the cry of the Lord that I've been having a lot of visions on is waking up his church, waking up the people that have slumbered. I was praying before this episode, and he reminded me of of right before he went to the cross, he had Peter and I think it was James and John. I can't remember now, but it was three disciples. Um and they were told to wait while Jesus prayed and to just pray with him and intercede and keep a watchful eye because they knew he knew that an attack was coming and they were gonna come and seize him. And do you know what they did? Those disciples, they fell asleep, and the Lord met them, he came out and he woke them up and said, Wake up, do not go to sleep. There there's destruction at hand. Keep interceding, wake up and intercede for me. And they fell asleep again. And not to say that if they hadn't fallen asleep, the Lord wouldn't have been crucified because that was the ultimate will of the Father, but I think that's painting such a beautiful picture of his church right now. There have been revivals in the past that has awakened his church, but then we fall back asleep, and then another revival hits, and then we fall back asleep. And we need to break the cycle. My biggest prayer, oh, my biggest prayers at Gen Z would be the ones to break that cycle. I think the Lord is doing something within this new generation, within this young generation, that they are just on fire for the Lord. There is a truth that they are seeking, and it's Him. Once they find Him, they want to dive deeper. They're they're over the surface level crap that we're facing. As believers, as the young ones, we are the new leaders, right? We have the leadership that went before us, but it is our time to inspire the elders. I think that there is a mark on this generation that is going to inspire the people that came before us and kind of break down what they have already seen. They have, they have been taught in their lives, right? Because I feel like a lot of things that are being taught or have been taught are based on works, they're based on lies, they're based on false doctrine, all of these things. I think the younger generation is going to bring that out of the elders. And I think that the revival is going to start this year. I think there is a mark on 2026. I think as Christians, if you pray in the spirit and if you're involved, if you have the Holy Spirit, I think you've at least felt something about this year. Something is different. We had this whole thing in 2025 in December that we were just praying and interceding for this year, and it was just going to be a massive year for the Lord. Not because of us, but because of him and his power and his glory. There's another story that I was reminded of and had visions of. If you don't know the story of the 10 virgins at the gates, um, this is Matthew 25, 6 through 13, I believe, or maybe it's Matthew 1, I mean 25, 1 through 13. I can't remember, but it's in that area. And they are standing at the gate, and there's five that have oil for their lamps, five that don't. They have to leave. While they are leaving, the Lord comes, takes them, and the gate is shut and they can no longer enter. And I had a vision about this uh two weeks ago, where I had a vision of the gate. So, like that was the setting, the story was the setting of it. And we were at the gate, and the gate was not open, but it kind of creaked open, like it was about to open. It creaked, and I just saw a lamp going up that was burning so bright. But and as the gate creaked open, there was an earthquake that happened, and the and it was just pure chaos. There was darkness, and it was just running back and forth. Everyone behind us was just freaking out, whatever. And when that lantern was lifted, the fire inside the lantern that guided the light, like that was a guiding light, and it it told people where to go, where was the exit, where were we off to? And the Lord just told me, you need to keep your lamp burning, not for your sake, but for the sake of others. There's so many people right now that are searching for the truth, and man, it's it's in every statistic, right? Gen Z is on fire for the Lord. God, thank you, thank you, Jesus, for that. But there are so many that are still lost. The millennials, some of the Gen Z's are still lost. It's not everyone in the Gen Z has been saved, but the amount of us that have found the truth, and every single person out there is searching for that truth. I just have this aching on my heart, this burning on my heart, that man, the gifts of the Lord, the grace of the Lord, the testimony of your salvation, everything about you, the story that the Lord is writing, it's not for you. Yes, you get to reap the benefits. Thank you, Lord, that you have saved me. But guess what? It's for the people that come after you. When we, the Lord says that we have fruits of the spirit, right? And we are we are rooted in Christ. We are this tree that that that produces fruit. And I saw the uh another vision that had this, but fruits have seeds. I I had posted a TikTok about this, but fruits have seeds. You can't eat your own fruit. The blessings of the Lord, you can't, they're not for you. If you try and keep them to yourself, they're just gonna rot because you can't eat them. So what are you gonna do with them? But when someone else eats of the good fruit that you produce, the fruit of the spirit, and there is that seed that they consume, it is then planted inside of them. And when their tree is watered, when that seed is watered by the Holy Spirit and by the discipleship of others, that tree then blossoms and produces fruit. And then people will eat of their fruit and blah, blah, blah, and it just keeps going and going and going. It's not for you. When I talk about the season of waiting, I want to preface or I want to touch on specifically if the Lord has a call on your life, if the Lord is telling you, hey, I'm going to use you to heal nations, I'm going to use you to speak the gospel in uh places of war. I, and it doesn't even have to be that crazy. I'm calling you to preach at your church, I'm calling you to worship leader at your church, I'm calling you to do this, this, and the other. And yet we sit back and we relax. And I love the saying that the Lord calls the unqualified because he does. He calls the people that are not necessarily the most qualified because that's how he shows his glory. That's how he shows that it's him. Because if it was a person that was super qualified, it's like, oh, obviously, duh. But the Lord gave me revelation of this is like, yes, he calls the unqualified, but he never called you to stay unqualified. I need you to let that sink in because I had to let it sink in. He has called the unqualified, but he does not call you to stay unqualified. That is a lack of excellence to the Lord. Everything that we do, every part of our lives, it should be excellence to the Lord. And it's not a workspace thing, but man, if he gave his life, how could I not give mine to bring him excellence? Why would I bring him something that's just done quickly and like, no, you don't want to give the Lord something sloppy. If the Lord is calling you to learn an instrument, he says, Oh, you're going to be a prophetic piano player, let's just say, and you don't know piano. How do you think that's gonna work? What what what do you think is gonna happen? And I think this is kind of also what I wanted to talk about, like in my original thing with David and all these things, is like when the Lord calls you in the waiting season of the fulfillment of the full prophecy that has been spoken over your life or the full call, like if he has said you are going to preach to the nations, okay, you gotta know the gospel. You gotta know your word. You can't just expect the Lord to one day book you a flight to a different nation and just put you on the street and start preaching if you don't even know your word. There is a season of preparation, and that is the waiting. The Lord is not about passive waiting, there's no such thing. The Lord has us in a waiting season so that we are able to equip ourselves, and he also gives us the grace to equip us, then he sends us out. He uses our obedience to send us out, and I've had a lot of people in my life like store. I don't know if any of this makes sense, by the way, guys. I really hope it does when I'm editing this, but whatever. I'm just gonna ramble and let the Lord do his thing. But I've had a lot of people that have had prophetic words over their life, and it's like, oh, you are going to see this, this, and this happen, and this will be um this will be done by this year, blah blah blah. They're very specific, and it's like there was so much truth behind it because they were confirmed, all of these things, but then they don't happen. Then the prophecy is never fulfilled, or at least in their eyes, right? It could also still be impending, whatever. And I have an issue with that because they take it, they take the prophecy, and then they do nothing with it. They do nothing with it, and I will give it like my life as an example, right? The Lord has called me to be a prophetic worshiper. He has called me to a couple different things that I'm still working out with him, but my main call, right, would be a worship leader. If I do not practice my singing, if I do not read my word, if I am not growing closer to him, he's never gonna put me on a platform and I'm never gonna be able to live out the the will that he has on my life. That's what I mean. Like, if there is no preparation in the season of waiting, there will never be a fulfillment of the prophecy. Because he he also needs that desire in you. So, like what I was gonna talk about with David, he was just out in the fields. His own father didn't even call him in when Samuel went to go see to anoint a king because he was like, it's definitely not gonna be David. He doesn't even consider him worthy enough to show up, right? And he gets anointed as king, a shepherd's boy, like just a he's just out in the fields worshiping the Lord, and he gets anointed as king, and he has the most insane story before he gets there, before he gets to king. But the entire time the Lord is preparing him, the Lord is moving in his life, he has to kill a lion, he kills Goliath, he he has to run for his life because the death is staring him in the face. He's he's like all of these things are happening before he is anointed king. David had to walk through the fire in order to be refined to take on the position of the king. But what did not change the entire time from the anointing to the appointing was his position in the Lord. He was always a man after God's own heart. That is why he was positioned as king. And yes, he messed up. We all mess up. I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't mess up because I'm not perfect. I am not Jesus, I am not sinless. But there is a difference when we are after the Lord's heart. He will refine us, he takes us through the flame. We are in active preparation, we will do and say whatever he says. And it's, I like to think of it this way: like, yes, he has called me to be a worship leader, but even if that never happens, which I mean, if I'm living in the will of the Lord, it will, but all I want to do is seek his face. Would every day of my life be blessed by his presence? And if that is all that I have, then that is enough. Because when you have the heart for the Lord in that way, you're not seeking fame, you're not seeking glory, you're just seeking his face, the Lord will move you. I promise it is not in your own works. So when I say you need to have an active season of preparation, of in the waiting, don't guess. Don't guess what you need to prepare. I will say a constant, if you have a calling of your on your life in the Lord, you need to know your word. You need to have a healthy prayer life, you need to actively seek his face. I don't care what your calling is. You could even not have received a calling yet. Like you don't know, it's unconfirmed. Just in life, those are the three things that you need. You need to know your word and keep it in your heart so that you are not easily deceived by others. There are people out there, they are wolves in sheep's clothing, they are coming to snatch you from your presence from the from the presence of the Lord. They want to steer you away. And it's not the actual people, but there's spirits behind these people. And if you do not know your word inside and out, if your theology is kind of based on things that you've heard rather than hearing and seeing the revelation from the Lord yourself, that is dangerous and you can easily be led astray. So you want to know that word. Two, you need to have that healthy prayer life because you need to be able to dialogue with the Lord. When you are going through seasons of your life, when you are going through the pits of hell, when you are going through the highest of the mountaintops, you need to be able to speak to the Lord and let that let that relationship never waver. Because the closer you get to your calling, the higher the temptations will be of the world. It's not gonna fade away the closer you get to your calling, because the last thing the enemy wants is for you to step into that calling. So you have to build that foundation of a sturdy, sturdy relationship with the Lord before you even take that next step. And you need to then at that step make it even harder, make it even more indestructible relationship with the Lord. So then you take that next step. And as temptations get harder, the prayer life continues. You pray and you never cease praying. And it gets higher as soon as the higher you get, the closer you need to get to the Lord, because if not, you will fail like this. We are not perfect. I have seen many pastors, many worship leaders, many prophets succumb to the works of the enemy because it's so easy to get distracted. It is a discipline for a reason. We need to seek the Lord and let it consume our lives. And once you have the knowledge of the word and you have that secure prayer life, man, I promise you, you're gonna hear from the Lord. You will hear what your next steps are. Do not walk without the Lord. I love when when Moses says, Lord, if you are not with me, I will not go. If your presence does not follow me, I will not go. So when we're in that season of waiting, the Lord has whatever he's prophesied over here this entire time, it needs to just be filled with walking with the Lord. You cannot have that waiting season and be stagnant. You can't be in that season and not pray, not know your word, not sharpen your skills, not do all of these things. Because then he's never gonna trust you enough to take you. It's like Israel. They wandered the wilderness for 40 years. That was never God's intention. But in their flesh, in their foolish ways, they kept getting distracted, they kept getting led astray, and they had to delay the entrance to the promised land. It is it is foreshadowing of our lives now. If we do not focus on the Lord, we are delaying our entrance into what he has called us to. And I think why why I have such a burning on my heart for this topic and for man just waking up his church, because if you do not get to where you are going, you are not reaching the Lord, the people that the Lord has assigned to you. You are robbing someone of their blessing if you are disobedient. I love the story of Ananias when he has to go and pray over Saul in Acts. Saul is a known persecutor of the church, and the Lord comes to Ananias and says, You need to go to where Saul is to pray for him so he may receive his sight. And Ananias, I mean, respectfully, I get it, he was like, Are you sure? Like that guy? He just persecuted your church, and he said, Go, I have called him to spread my gospel. And Ananias goes, prays for him, and then we have basically the New Testament as we know it today, because Ananias was faithful in order to go pray over Saul. And when I read that, the Lord showed me so vividly what I have called you to is specific. What I have called you to, there is a reason. And if there is any disobedience in us, if there is a delay in us, we are delaying people's blessing, and we are delaying their story in the Lord. As Christians in the US, I don't I can't speak for any other place, right? As American Christians, as Western Christianity, whatever, we are so selfish, we cannot empathize with the outside world, and I think I said this in The first episode, but we have created this perfect little bubble that we get to live in, and nothing in the world is going wrong. I have to worry about my own problems, things are happening. I can't focus on anyone else's problems right now because it'll just add to my plate. And I would like to offer you a very healthy rebuke. We have turned what is meant to be the greatest news in the world, and we have turned it into a feel-good message that offers grace with no repentance, that offers peace with no freedom, and we have allowed for it to stay within the confines of our home and our church. We have given up on the people outside of those vicinities. The Lord says at the end of John, if you love me, feed my sheep. And then further than that, they're like, What does that mean? And he specifically he puts it very plainly, would you go and would you feed my people? Would you visit them in prison? Would you set the captive free? And this doesn't, when he says this, yes, it could mean a physical prison. But man, when we do not have the Lord, we are in a spiritual prison. If they do not have the Lord, they are in spiritual shackles. They are weighed down by the sins of the world. They are weighed down by the evil of this world, and they have no way to get free unless we share the gospel with them, unless we share the Lord's love with them. But we can't be bothered. The Lord is calling for a rise of his church to do what they were meant to do, to be the light and the salt of the earth, to be the light to guide them to the gate. So if you are in a season of saying, I'm waiting for the Lord, I'm waiting for him to do what he does, I'm waiting for him to deliver me to the prophecy he gave me, to the call that he gave me. Make sure you are not falling asleep as he prays for you. And if you are someone that doesn't know where to start, maybe you just found the Lord, or maybe you've known the Lord your whole life, but you you want to go deeper and you're just confused on where to go and where to start. My biggest recommendation is to come to the Lord, not with an agenda. Do not say, okay, today I'm gonna sit down, I'm going to read um three chapters of this book, and then I am going to pray over my needs and my family, and then I'm gonna go. When you do that, you're not going to gain a relationship with the Lord. And he, I mean, you can, he will use anything that you give him. But when you want a true sensitivity to the spirit, if you want a true encounter with the Holy Spirit, I recommend that you go into a room by yourself, turn your phone off, turn all electronics off. Just grab your Bible and pray before you open it and say, Lord, would you meet me? I am desperate to hear your voice. I am desperate to see you. Lord, as I read these words, would you bring me fresh revelation of who you are? Would you speak to not only my situation, but to my soul, to my spirit, would you speak to me? And he will. It may be hard the first time because we are so occupied with our phones and with life that our minds could be racing. I challenge you to quiet your mind in order to hear him. You have to kind of cancel out all the noise in order to hear him clearly, but the more you do it, the louder he gets and the quieter the world becomes. When you are able to focus your mindset on him rather than the situations around you, the louder he gets. Because the Lord likes to whisper because we're called to rest in him. Sometimes he'll shout. Usually, when he shouts, you know it's time to like, okay, kind of gotta go back. But he speaks in a whisper because he calls us to rest in his presence. He's not gonna fight for your attention. He is a very jealous God. He is jealous of everything that you pour out into all your attention goes divided into other things. He's man, he's jealous for your time. Would you just look at him? Would you just take your time and just say, Lord, I'm here, I'm waiting. Would you just speak in it however you want to and allow him to develop that relationship with you? And you'll start to realize, man, I have a craving, I have a hunger to know him more. I have a craving to know his word more. Because the more you know the word, the more you know him. People also ask, how do I hear his voice and know that it's him? And when I tell you, this is him, right? Jesus' word become flesh. These words reveal his character, they reveal who he is, the tone that he speaks in. If the voice that you hear does not reflect this, if it contradicts what is in here, that's not him. You need to cancel those voices out. But it like you, the voice of the Lord is never gonna come at you and put you down. It's never gonna say you're ugly, you're dumb, you aren't praying correctly. You're that's not the Lord, that's just the enemy trying to distract you. The Lord speaks in a gentle tone, he speaks in a loving tone. And don't get me wrong, there is correction. The Lord will correct you, and he will sometimes give you a very healthy rebuke when you when it's needed, right? But when you're learning his voice, when you're knowing his character, man, it's just a loving God. He just sits there and he loves, he pours his love on you. So in turn, would we not pour it back? I don't think we can ever love the Lord the way that he loves us, but man, I will spend the rest of my days trying. I will spend every minute of my life trying to match his love for me. It'll never measure up because he loved me long before I could have ever turned to him. But every breath that I have, man, would it just pour oil onto his feet? Would it just seek him day in and day out? This was a bit of a longer one, and I if I rambled on, I apologize. But man, it was just so heavy on my heart, and I I pray that this spoke to you and and really just the Holy Spirit took control, and you are so loved, and you are so worthy of love. The Lord wants to use you. Would you be a vessel for him and not an obstacle? That's one of my biggest prayers. Lord, let me be a vessel, never an obstacle. I don't want to get in your way. So I actually I want to pray over you guys before we go. Um, so if you bow your heads and agree with me. Heavenly Father, I just want to come before you. I want to thank you for the the person on the other side of the screen, Lord. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would pour your oil onto them, Lord. I pray that you would show them your face, Heavenly Father. I pray you would spark a fire within them that will never dim, Lord. I pray that you would ignite something within them that today, moving forward, Heavenly Father, that they can just never get enough of you, Lord. I pray that they would awaken to the call that you have on their lives, Lord, that they are able to be a part of this revival that you are calling for in 2026. I pray, Jesus, that they would speak when they have heard your voice, Lord. I pray, Holy Spirit, that they would find their gifts that you have placed in their lives. Holy Spirit, I just thank you for these people, Lord. I thank you for every single person watching this. I pray, Lord, that they would just see your face and never turn away, Heavenly Father, that you would just show them who you are with a deeper level of your love every single day, Lord. I pray that as we go into the rest of this year, Lord, as we have marked February, it's the start of a new month. I pray, Jesus, that that you would just come and you would pour your glory upon them, Lord. That they would feel the physical weight of your presence, Jesus, that you would show them that you are real, Heavenly Father, in a new way. Let us not get familiar, Heavenly Father. Let us not get familiar with how you move and how you operate, that we would box you in. Would we just come to you as students, come to you as children, and just sit in your presence and love on you. Thank you, Lord, for everyone watching this. Thank you for who you are and who you are shaping us to be, Lord. We love you, we worship your holy name. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Well, that's all for me. I hope you guys like this episode. Um, if you ever have any questions, please again never hesitate to reach out to me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, comments, whatever, whatever it is. Please never, never, ever hesitate. I am always just a message away. And I would love to pray over you and speak love into your life. Um I love you guys, but Jesus loves you so much more. And I hopefully we'll see you guys in the next one. Bye.