Transcript

Sermon Transcript: The Battle for Breakthrough

7/7/2024 Justin Hart 32 min read

Amen. Amen. Well, I want to start off this morning with a story for you. This is a transcript of the actual radio conversation between the British and the Irish off the coast of Kerry. This conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations in October of 1998.

Here's what it says. The Irish, please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid collision. British recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision. Irish negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

The British. This is the captain of a british navy ship. I say again, divert your course. Irish negative. I say again, you will have to divert your course.

The British. This is the aircraft carrier HSM Britannia, the second largest ship in the british Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers, and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees to the north. I say again, that is 15 degrees to the north.

Or countermeasures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship. Irish, we are a lighthouse. Your call.

And I read that, and I was laughing because I was like, man, isn't that us? And I think about, honestly, guys, like, our prayer life and how many of us feel like, I'm just trying to get God to budge 15 degrees, you know what I mean? I just want him to do this just a little bit. And the reality is, God is our lighthouse. He's the one that's keeping us from smashing our life up on the rocks, from heading into a collision course with chaos.

And if we don't listen to him, if we don't let him direct us and move us the way that we're supposed to go, we are on a collision course with problems. Amen. We need to listen for the voice of God and allow him to show us the way of breakthrough, because on our own, it will not go well. You need to know this today, brave church. God does not bless your plans.

I know, I know. Stay with me. God blesses you. Joining his plan. That's what he blesses.

When you're willing to say, okay, goddess, I'll move with you. Where do you want me to go? What is this supposed to look like? What would you have me do? We're setting ourself on the path for breakthrough.

And this is important because there have been so many times throughout history where things have not gone the way that people were hoping. When nations drifted, when people drifted, when families were drifting, or whatever the issue was. And people realized, I don't have an option. If God doesn't come through. If God doesn't break through the nonsense that's going on, there is no hope for me.

How many of you guys feel like our nation, our state right now, like, we're in a place where it's like, what is one individual going to do apart from the grace of God breaking through and doing a work in our life. And thankfully, their stories all throughout history of people trusting God in the midst of a world where they felt like there is nothing that I can do on my own. And seeing God move in power when they decided to appeal to heaven instead of asking God to do what they wanted, in fact, we just got done with the 4 July and there was this flag that came before old glory. I don't know if you guys know about it, but it was called the appeal to heaven flag. It was this white flag with a green tree on it.

And on the top it said appeal to heaven because they understood that apart from the grace of God, there was no way that they were going to see any of the change that they were hoping to see. They were saying, I can't appeal to a government official. I can't appeal to anybody. If God doesn't do something, this will not go well. And we need that breakthrough in our own lives.

So today I want to invite you into that, this idea of beseeching God and asking him to move on behalf of his children, on behalf of the saints, and because it is something he's called us to. And because of that, I want to invite you into a story of a man who is an absolute prayer warrior. He stopped the mouths of lions. He changed the direction of nations. He unraveled eschatological mysteries and stood against a corrupt system.

And he didn't cave. And he actually got to see some of these systems turn around and declare the true God even in the midst of the nonsense that they had been caught up in. And I'll tell you right now, if we don't want to fall into the trap of so many other people who have just absolutely been destroyed and smashed up against the rocks, we need to listen to our boy Daniel today and learn from him what God is calling us to do to see breakthrough in our life. So I want to take you guys to Daniel chapter ten today. Daniel chapter ten.

And we're going to read together the first 14 verses. Here's what it says.

In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. And the message was true and one of great conflict. But he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. I didn't eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.

And on the 24th day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river that is the Tigris, I lifted my eyes and looked. And behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen whose waist was girded with the belt of pure gold of uphaz. His body was also like beryl, like orange and yellow. His face had the appearance of lightning. His eyes were like flaming torches, his arms like the gleam of polished bronze.

And the sound of his words was like the sound of a tumult, like thunder. Now, I, Daniel alone, saw the vision. While the men who were with me did not see the vision. Nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. So I was left alone, and I saw this great vision.

Yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly paler, and I retained no strength. But I heard the sound of his words. And as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground. Then, behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, o Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I'm about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.

And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up, trembling. Then he said to me, do not be afraid, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your goddess, your words were heard. And I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for 21 days.

Then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now, I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future. Okay, brieftain. In this unique moment, we're getting the veil pulled back to get a perspective, a picture of what is happening when we pray. Now, I'll be honest with you.

I read this text, and it kind of blows my mind. But I want you guys to journey with me in this, because Daniel is in a place in time in history where they've been in babylonian exile for about 70 years. And he knows that in Jeremiah, chapter 25, there was a prophecy that said God would send them into exile, and at the end of those 70 years, he would release them. And he's wondering, God, this time has come. And I'm not seeing everybody go back to Jerusalem.

I'm not seeing it. They're starting. There's a trickle, but it's not happening. And obviously, we've been through the book of Nehemiah and we see how God brings that about. But he's in a place where he's like, God, what is happening next?

And God's been showing him visions of not just what's going to happen in his immediate future, but what's happening throughout the course of history. And there's a word here I want you to see. In verse one. He says, the message was true and one of great conflict. This word conflict here is the word for when a battle is joined, it's two lines smashing together in the chaos of battle.

He's saying, this message is true. And the vision that's coming is one of great conflict. Why? Because the future and how God is revealing his will and bringing about his kingdom is through a battle that is going on between good and evil, light and darkness, the saints and the kingdom and those who are fallen. There's a massive battle going on in the heavenlies.

And Daniel is teaching us in this moment, in the midst of chaos, in the midst of exile, when we're trusting in prophecies that are coming and what God's going to bring about, how do we seek God for breakthrough and participate with him in that glorious battle that will end in the victorious kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ? That's what we're seeing. So I want to invite you guys in this to start to see how do I pray for breakthrough in my own life? How do I join God in what he's doing? And so I want to start getting into this today.

And the first thing that I want you guys to see when we're battling for breakthrough is that breakthrough begins when we embrace God's burden, not comfort. When we embrace God's burden, not comfort. And this is really important, guys, I want you to get this into your bones, because so often I think in our world, when difficulties happen, when frustrations happen, our tendency is to ask God to take it away. Our tendency is to say, God, I just need some peace right now. God, I don't know what's going on with this.

And we see what's going on with the television, and our tendency is change the channel so that we can see something a little bit more happy. And here's what I want to show you guys. Daniel's walking through some stuff. There's hard things going on, and he is deciding to put away comfort and dig into the burden. When you decide to take on a task, a project, a job, whatever you're doing, it's going to cost you focus.

It's going to cost you attention. You don't join the Marine Corps because you have an affinity for nachos. You join the Marine Corps because you know you're getting into a fight. You don't join a team unless you're willing to put time aside to practice and actually get good at the thing that you're doing. Here's my concern.

Many of us are finding ourselves in a place where there's frustrations in our family, our marriages, the world. How many of you guys saw the debate like, a week ago? How many of you guys, in your spirit, were, like, legitimately concerned? My wife, she told me, she said, I can't believe his wife let him get up there and do that. And I was, like, heartbroken at the same time that I was, like, giggling, because I'm like, is this the insanity that we find ourselves in?

How many of you guys know you're not going to be able to fix that? You're going to need breakthrough. We're going to need God to intervene and do something. How many of you guys have a tendency to see that and click it off and go on with your life like nothing's happening? Some of us in our life are experiencing anxiety.

Some of us are experiencing legitimate fear. Some of us feel like there's things going on, there's changes happening. And I'm telling you right now, instead of embracing comfort, I want you to realize that oftentimes God is revealing to you his heart. He's showing you something that bothers him. He's revealing to you something that is wrong.

You're not crazy. There's a lot of things going wrong right now. And here's the deal. In Matthew 1128, it says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. I'll give you rest for your souls.

Take my yoke upon you. For my burden is easy and my yoke is light. And many of us think that means, oh, good, I can take the weight off, and God's just got it. That's not what it says. Jesus says, come yoke with me.

Come under my burden. Walk with me. It's easier. Here's why. Because when you're plowing your own field.

You're going off into nowhere. You're going to end in destruction. But if you will come next to Jesus and get up under the load that he's carrying, you will most certainly see victory and breakthrough where you're going. And my concern is that so many of us, guys, so many of us are in a place where we're like, God, I don't want to struggle with this. And this is going on, and that's going on, and I'm like, this is God calling us to pray.

Brave church. This is God. This is not a time to put this stuff away. This is a time to see that there is a conflict. There's two worlds colliding, and we shouldn't push that stuff off.

We should ask God, God, what is it that you're calling me to do? What are you asking me to do in this moment? This is what it says in two Timothy, two, three, seven. This is Paul talking to Timothy. He says, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Then he says the same message again. If anyone competes as an athlete, he doesn't win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. And then he says it again, the hardworking farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all of this.

He's saying, if you have become a Christian, your focus has to fundamentally change from what the rest of the world is looking at and seeing and running after to being enlisted from the army of darkness into the kingdom of Christ's beloved son. So that we would take on a new task, on a new mission, and pray and yoke with God and run towards the same things that he is running toward. I want you to know. Brave church. The reality is, we're not at a time where there's a ton of peace and comfort.

We're at a time where there's a lot of battle going on around us, and God is calling all of us to join him, to pray with him, to fight with him. This is a quote that I love from Abraham Kuyper. I'll read it to you. It says, when the principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then the battle is your calling, and peace has actually become sin. You must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy.

With all the fire of your faith. I want to take you to Amos, chapter six, just briefly. If you guys want to turn there, you can, but I'll read it to you.

He says this. Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and those who feel secure in the mountains of Samaria. He goes on to say in verse three, do you put off the day of calamity? And would you bring near the seat of violence those who recline on beds of ivory and sprawl on their couches and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, who improvise to the sound of the harp, and like David, who composed songs for themselves, who drink wine from sacrificial bowls while they anoint themselves with the finest of oils, yet they have not grieved over the ruin in Joseph. They are not grieved by what's wrong.

They're not paying attention to it. They're putting off what's actually happening in the name of personal comfort. And I don't know if you see this, but this is a direct parallel to what Daniel did. They're sitting on couches, they're enjoying food, they're enjoying drink. They're putting ointment on.

And Daniel is saying, no, no, no. I have a burden from God. I'm putting away the food, I'm putting away the drink. I'm putting away the ointment. It's not a time to celebrate.

It's not a time to have peace, because look what's going on around us. Somebody's got to pray. Somebody's got to seek the face of the Lord. Somebody has to put this stuff aside and say, God, I'm not asking you to move to 15 degrees. I'm gonna move.

What do you need? What do you want me to do? Here am I, Lord, send me right. This is exactly what we see from him. And he wants to hear God.

Bad enough that he's going to make everything else in his life go quiet.

He's going to war with the noise of the normal. For breakthrough from Goddesse, here's a real question I have for you, brave church. If God wants to get ahold of you, do you have a time and place in your life right now where you're prepared to hear him? If God wanted to give you breakthrough and speak to you about what's going on in your life, is there a place right now in your calendar, in your time, in your schedule to set aside to hear from him? Because we don't want to be like Pontius Pilate, who asks Jesus, what is truth?

And then incarnate truth is standing in front of him. And Pilate turns around before he gets the answer and walks off. The only one who could tell him, I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life.

He didn't hear it because he was too busy already walking on to the next thing. I mean, how many of you feel like that's me? I mean, honestly, in my own life, I feel like I'm running. I got stuff going on. I want to make sure that we have time in our life for breakthrough.

So I want to be a pastor to you for just a second. How many of you guys, when you have company, come over? You're like, getting after it in the house. Like, I got four kids, I got a fifth on the way. It's awesome.

Dominion multiplying, all that. It's happening. Yeah. Yes. We can clap for that.

Absolutely. But when we have people come over, like, there's. I mean, there's. I'm just going to be honest. There's a lot of signs of life in my house.

It's real. There's just stuff. And people are coming over, and I'm, like, opening up closets and shoving stuff in. And this one kid I have that never wants to wear pants, we're going to get pants on him, okay. Because the people that are coming, I want to honor them, and I want to remove every distraction so that I can actually enjoy and have fellowship with the people that are coming over.

That's how it's supposed to be with goddess. That's how it's supposed to be. We should be taking time, creating space, creating opportunity for God to speak to us. Brave church. If you're praying, I want you to know right now, you don't have to talk the whole time.

You can listen. You know that God speaks in the discipline of silence. God speaks oftentimes, but if we haven't shut our mouths, we may not hear it. Amen. Right?

I love what Voti Bakkam said. You can't say amen. You ought to say ouch. Right? It's the real.

I mean, it's just true. Like, God speaks on the discipline of silence. And I want to give you guys just a couple of quick ways to think about how can we listen for the voice of God in our times of prayer? John ten says, my sheep hear my voice. They will not answer to another.

So if God speaks in this discipline of silence and waiting on him, I want to give you guys some practical things that you can think about in your own life to start hearing the voice of God. You're going to want your bible and you're going to want a notebook. Anytime that you're going out and you're praying because you're going to need those things. Because if God wants to say something to you, you should be smart enough to be able to put that down. Amen.

So scripture is the first and primary way that we hear from God. It is the bedrock and it is the line from which we decide whether anything else coming after this is from the Lord or not. But I will tell you right now, I believe the amount you hear from God is directly related to the amount of time you spend reading what he has to say. And some of you guys are begging God for breakthrough and you want to hear him, but you won't spend any time listening to him. And there's your problem.

That's where it starts, right there. You want to hear from God? Read the Bible. You want to hear him audibly read it out loud, right? Read it out loud.

Readdez the word. Bring it with you in your time of prayer. Really important. The second is this. Convictions.

Oftentimes God has convicted you. He's put something on your heart. Could be a ministry, could be something that just keeps coming up in your life about what you're supposed to be doing, where you're supposed to be at. And if you're honest, you're distracting yourself when you pray, it keeps coming up, and that's driving you crazy. That's goddesse.

He's talking to you. He's showing you something about yourself and about your heart that you're supposed to walk out. Don't dull that voice out. Listen to it. God's speaking.

The third is this. Pictures. How many of you guys have been praying before and somebody's face pops into your mind and you know, oh, I'm supposed to pray for this person? Like God's telling me right now, this family or this situation or whatever's going on, if we're not spending time listening and waiting for God to share with us, we could miss breakthrough that he's trying to bring about through you right now. Right now.

Like God is showing you, hey, this person, this home, this situation. Oftentimes God will reveal things to us and we need to be paying attention for that so that we can pray and seek breakthrough. The fourth is this. And oh, man. How many of you guys have just experienced the presence of God before?

It is a wonderful thing, and not everybody has experienced that. And that's okay. But I would say frequently in our time of prayer, this wonderful thing can happen where we're praying and we just sense the presence of the Lord with us. There's a weightiness in the room. There's something special there because God is ministering to our hearts and he's reminding us, hey, I'm here.

I'm with you. I love you. Keep going. Such a wonderful reminder from God. The fifth is people.

How many of you have heard the voice of the Lord and it sounded strangely like your spouse?

Sometimes when we're praying and we're asking God to do a work and move and everything else, somebody's going to come up and tell us the very thing that we were praying about. And you got to have enough time and wherewithal to be listening for God. Not just in your prayer closet, but coming out of the prayer closet where he wants to share with you and talk to you. So I do want to tell you this too. Usually it's not the super spiritual amazing person that you're hoping to hear the word from God from.

Oftentimes it's the guy that you're like, not him. I'm not talking not from that guy. I'm not hearing it from them. Listen, a wise person will hear God through anybody, through anybody. And we need to know that.

The last is this a plan? Oftentimes you're in a scenario or a situation where you don't know what to do. Just like two chronicles 2012 God, but our eyes are on you. And I can't tell you how many times I've been praying for breakthrough because I don't know what to do. And God just downloads to me a plan for what needs to happen and what we need to accomplish.

And I'm telling you guys right now, in your life, many of you need a plan. You don't know what your next step is, you don't know what the thing is that you need to do. And I'm telling you, be ready to practice the discipline of silence and listen for the voice of God. Because when you do that, you'll begin to embrace the burden that God is calling you into and you'll put off comfort and you'll actually start to see breakthrough in your life because God is going to talk to you. If you're constantly numbing out the big questions or burdens that God has given you, you'll miss the voice of God in your life.

And I do want to tell you a couple things real quick. There are four more things I want to tell you that are going to keep you from hearing the voice of God walking in. Sin is one of them. If you got sin that's ongoing in your life, I want to tell you right now, it's like God sending the rain to give you an answer, and you just got an umbrella up, you're holding it, you're not getting it because you're literally putting a different covering over you so that you cannot hear the voice of God the way that you should. The other is this.

When you allow opportunities for distraction, it creates problems. Here's what I mean. Leave your phone at home. Leave your phone out of the space. Somebody's going to call you, something's going to happen.

It'll be on, you know, whatever mode, and you're still gonna get an amber alert or something, like, it's not gonna matter. It's just gonna come through. And if you have an apple, watch that too, all right? That also counts. Put away distractions and allow God to speak to you.

If you have problems with a brother, you got bitterness or frustration or something going on. Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mount, you gotta get that stuff right before you go to God. And lastly, husbands, I'll say this to you. If you have strife or problems at home with your wife, it says, your prayers are hindered. Now, what's frustrating to me is I want a balancing statement there.

I want to just say, like. And wives, if you're husb. No, just husbands, just us. Make sure that you get that right so that we can begin to see breakthrough in our prayers. The next is in verses four through eleven.

Let's read it together. I prayed to the Lord, my God, and confessed and said, alas, o Lord, the great and odd I. Wrong chapter. I'm so sorry. On the 24th day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river that is the Tigris, I lifted my eyes and looked.

And behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold, of uphaz, just a beautiful, brilliant gold. His body was also like beryl. His face had the appearance of lightning. His eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of its words like the sound of a tumult. Now I, Daniel alone, saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision.

Nevertheless, a great dread fell on them and they ran away to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw this great vision. Yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly paler, and I retained no strength. But I heard the sound of his words. And as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Then, behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, o Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up, trembling. Okay. Breakthrough begins when we expect our prayers to be powerful.

Breakthrough begins when we expect our prayers to be powerful. Now, this cracks me up. I have a hard time with this a little bit, because there's a lot of books that have been written about people who have, like, visited heaven, and, you know, and they, like, sat on daddy God's lap, and he told them about grandma and their dog or something. I'm like, this is not what we see in scripture. Listen, if it's used by God, and they had a vision and it was something awesome that God used to benefit them.

Praise the Lord. Happy with that? Here's what I know. If an actual angel is standing before you, you're gonna fall on your face like you're dead. It says, there was no strength left in him.

His color left his face. His friends bailed. Pansies, we're out, right? Like, he's alone. And he's like, you think when God speaks to him, it's gonna get.

Or when the angel speaks to him, it's gonna get better? And it doesn't. He says when he started speaking to him, he just fell on his face. He's like, oh, that's it. I'm done.

I'm done. That's what happened. And he, in this moment, is encountering this crazy, angelic, glorious being who has been fighting against demonic spirits and stuck in a holy war. And what is going through my head as I read this is, what in the world is this thing doing? Answering to Daniel?

How is it that something as majestic and terrifying as that is under his command showing up to answer his prayer? That blows my mind that in this room right now, veiled behind reality, there is a more real reality. There's a more solid truth that exists. And if you saw it right now, we would all be on our faces. There would be no worship service because of the terror and glory we would behold in the heavenlies that Daniel gives a glimpse at, and we get to pray and see those things move on our behalf.

Does that not stir something in you does that not remind you of the power of what's actually happening? Listen, we're spinning through space at a million miles an hour on a molten rock or frisbee if you're a flat earther, an enormous galaxy in a universe spoken into existence by a transcendent, holy, all powerful, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being. And the Bible tells us that he's listening to your prayers, the individual prayer. He's listening to them. The only true all powerful God, El Gaborim, the mighty warrior who the living and the dead will have judged, wants to commune with you.

Are you taking seriously the position that God has afforded you and the power that he has given to you in his kingdom? Do you know that? How many of you guys have just spouted off random prayers before it's been capricious, off the cuff, whatever, and just said stuff. This is ecclesiastes five two. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God.

For God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few. Daniel understands prayers are not something that we just toss up that blow away in the wind. It's a cannonball being sent into the darkness to have breakthrough from light on the other side. See, Daniel falls on his face and he's getting to see this angel come and minister to him and go to war on his behalf because he understands something that these angels don't serve him, they serve his father.

And because they serve his father, they serve him. First corinthians six three reminds us that we will judge angelse in the church. We'll judge beings like this that we just talked about. And in my guts I'm like, that doesn't make any sense, right? The gospel doesn't.

But God has invited anyone who would place their faith in him to stand in a place of righteousness, to be seated with Christ in the heavenlies, and to call on angel armies and see them actually break through darkness and bring about light. Now this is important because verse seven tells us that these other men that were with him, they sensed a great dread and ran away, but they couldn't see what was happening. You want to know why? Because they don't have the full picture. You have full picture if you're a Christian.

There's a lot of people in our nation right now, in our state who feel dread. They know something is wrong. But there's a greater responsibility on us as Christians because we know what it is, we know that it's not a happenstance. There is an enemy. And even somebody who doesn't know Jesus, if I asked him, would probably say something like, yeah, if I'm being honest, it feels like there's been something evil following me my whole life.

Now, you as a Christian know that is the case. You as a Christian. No, no. There is something evil. It has wanted to destroy my life.

It has wanted to destroy my relationships. It has wanted to destroy my family. And I want you to know, in the kingdom your prayers are powerful and you can call on angel armies to come and protect you and be with you. And check this out. Verse eleven blows my mind too.

It says this. He said to me, Daniel, man of high esteem, holy cow. You're telling me that people like angels in the heavenlies know who you are, that you have a reputation, even the heavenlies, for good or for bad, as somebody who is thwarting the plans of the wicked? I guarantee you there are people right here in brave church that Satan can't stand and is afraid of because he keeps getting in the way of their plans. That's happening right here in this church because they understand the power of prayer.

I want to be known in the heavenlies as somebody who is going to war with the darkness all the time. This is what CS Lewis said. He said, my hope is when I die, all of hell rejoices, that I'm out of the fight. That's my hope. Come on.

Jesus tells the disciples in Luke ten that he saw Satan falling like lightning because they were going out and casting out demons and bringing healing and bringing hope. This is the glory of the great commission that Jesus said. All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go kick down doors. Make disciples.

Teach him to obey. He's saying, there is nothing anymore because of my blood and body that will keep the glory of God from bringing about ultimate redemption of all things. And this is not dualism. I want you guys to get this. It's not like there's a big, you know, Satan and God are in some cosmic arm wrestling match.

No, no, no. I want you to get this. Hear this from me, okay? God has chosen his saints to be the mechanism by which he redeems all things. He's using us to bring that about.

He's using us to do that. The question is, do you know that? Do you know that Satan, demons, unclean spirits, many of them know your names in this room and do not like you because what you're doing is working. What you're doing is casting things down and actually bringing change. And I got to tell you guys, prayer is powerful.

Even in Westminster, which I got to pastor for a long time, Pastor AJ is crushing it over there now, doing a great job. We were praying circles a year before we actually had that building around that building. It wasn't for sale. We didn't know that that was what was going to happen. We just saw the space and we're like, God, I just.

I believe there's going to be breakthrough. I think this space is something that you want to give to us. And a year beforehand, I'm meeting with some of the elders and deacons and just praying and asking God to move and do a work, and a year later we're moving into that area because prayer is powerful. I spent a lot of time counseling with me and my wife, other couples, and pouring into them, and many of them were like, I don't see a way that this is gonna get better unless God does something. And I'll tell you, so many of them, I don't think we've lost a single couple.

God's been really gracious and just brought breakthrough and healed families. I've seen prodigals that we've been praying for that I was like, that person's never gonna make it unless God breaks through and does something, turn around. And some of them are sitting in this congregation now, because God works through the power of prayer. And you need to know that. You need to know that what we're dealing with in the spiritual realm is far weightier and more terrifying, real and holy than what we can fathom with regards to all the stuff that we can't see.

If you've been trivializing prayer in your life, you've been a fool, because it's the greatest weapon that God has given you to bring about the redemption of all things and see breakthrough in your life. It matters. It matters because of this last point. Let's read verses twelve through 14. Then he said to me, do not be afraid, Daniel.

For from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before God, your words were heard. And I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for 21 days. Then behold Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days.

For the vision pertains to the days, yet future breakthrough begins. When we engage, we are at war. Breakthrough begins when we engage. We are at war. And I want you to understand this.

This text is saying that this angel, although God had answered a prayer and said yes to something, had to fight through the spiritual darkness and fog for three weeks to get that breakthrough. To Daniel, some of you, God has already said yes to the prayers you're praying, but if you stop early, you're not going to see that breakthrough. Some of you, God has already said yes to some of these things, but there is such a spiritual battle in the heavenlies that you're going to have to pray it through to see that thing come to fruition. This is important, guys. I drive down to Westminster.

I drive on I 25 sometimes in the evening. How many of you guys are disgusted by just how it reeks of marijuana? Like, I drive through there and I feel like there is a literal, like, fog from this demonic sacrament. And all I can think of is in scripture, it tells us that the prayers of the saints are like incense, an aroma rising up to God. And when I drive through Denver, all I can think of this is an aroma of people that are worshiping something else entirely.

Do you know that there's a spiritual battle over Denver? You know there's a spiritual battle over Colorado. Hopefully you understand there's a spiritual battle over your home, over the nation. There's a war. And what this says is this angel was coming to give him breakthrough.

And another angel, one of the chief princes, Michael, had to come and help bring breakthrough in this area. He had to come and help bring the hammer so that he could get this breakthrough. And it says in verses 20 and 21, a little bit later that then he's going to leave and he has to continue to fight against the prince of Persia, and he's going to go after that to fight against the prince of Greece. So there's literal demonic forces sitting in power over geographic locations where their worship is being had. And he's saying, our goal is for the saints to pray through and see breakthrough and these things cast down in Jesus name that's going on behind the scenes.

Some of you may not understand this. One of the movies that I dearly love, there's these two kings. One of them has recently been attacked, his people out in the open, and he doesn't want to risk a large war. So he's talking to another king and he says, I will not risk open war. And the other king responds back to him and says, open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not.

If you're in Christ, you're in the fight if you're in Christ, you can't live a normal life. If you are in Christ. I'm telling you right now, there is something that does not like you and wants to see you fail. And if you do this thing with Jesus where you're like, I want my 15 degrees, you're going to end up smashed against the rocks. Instead of seeing breakthrough in your life, you have to know that you're actually in a fight.

And I do. I want to tell you guys, just for this is just for free. If you have a Jehovah's Witness, show up at your door. This verse about Michael, one of the chief princes, is important because they think Michael is. Is Jesus.

And it says, one of the chief princes, which means there's apparently many. So you don't have to be afraid. Next time you hear a JW knock on your door, you go ahead, you just take him to Daniel ten and you get the work done. Okay? That's just for.

That's just for you. Take that. So Romans 1620 says, the God of peace will soon crush the serpent under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And I love that verse.

Cause it's the reminder that God's accomplishing these things through you. But he says two things about Daniel that I want us to get. If we're going to pray and we're going to see breakthrough in our life, he says this. He says, daniel, from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before the Lord. Listen, we don't fight the way everyone else fights.

We don't wage war the way everyone else wage war. He's giving us two keys for breakthrough in our times of prayer. The first is this. Set your heart. I don't know what you're fighting today, but I want you to win your war so bad.

I don't know if it's your marriage, I don't know if you got a prodigal, I don't know if it's your finances, I don't know what it is. But I know there is something evil said against you. And I know God is giving you opportunity for breakthrough and to see amazing things happen. And the first is this. Set your heart.

Don't stop praying. Don't give in, don't give up. Don't get distracted. Grab onto God like Jacob did with Jesus and say, I'm not letting you go, lord, until you give me breakthrough, until you share with me what I need to do, what needs to happen to see this thing happening. It's so important that you guys get this.

Don't quit on prayer. Don't quit on what Jesus is doing in your life, because there's breakthrough ahead of you, if you will. Set your heart and say, this is what I'm doing. The second thing is this. He humbles himself.

It makes all the sense to me in the world. The kryptonite of the one who rebelled against Jesus in pride is humility. He wouldn't bow, and so he's cast down. When we kneel before Christ, God stands us up to talk to us like we see with Daniel. Pride made demons of angels.

Humility makes kingdom warriors of Mendez. And we need to understand this. If we come before God and kneel before him and say, lord, you're my victory, what do you want to change in my life? What do I need to do? And we don't let go, and we keep praying.

I firmly believe that God is going to move in our lives. I firmly believe he's going to move in this church. And this is important because we're going into the summer. And I was a church kid, I was a pastor's kid. I grew up in church.

I know what happens during the summer, everybody. It's like cockroaches. When the light turns on, it's like, we got stuff. We're going, we're doing this, we're doing that. Here's what I want you to know.

Satan doesn't quit during the summer. He's not going to quit on your marriage. He's not going to quit fighting against your family. He's not going to quit fighting against the stuff that's going on in your life. And the reason we're doing Saturday morning prayer at brave church is because we're asking people to come together and ask God for revival so that we can see breakthrough in your life.

The reason that we're doing first Tuesdays is to come together and pray for marriages and pray for hope and pray for joy, because we believe that that's where breakthrough is going to happen. The reason we come together on Sundays is because we're breaking down darkness and barriers that are setting themselves against your family and your relationships and against this nation. And I'm not going to be complacent. And I'm asking you guys with me, come pray. Seek God's face.

Ask for breakthrough. Let's listen for the voice of goddess, and let's engage in the war that he's called us to. Amen. All right, will you stand with me? I'm gonna pray for us.

We'll get back to worship. Lord God.

The battle belongs to you, Lord. But you've called us to yoke with you in that fight. God and I believe in this room there are many people that you have revealed your heart to them and they're a little bit scared of taking up that flag, Lord, that banner and joining that fight. God, I pray right now that you would put a fire in our guts and a conviction in our heart to be people of prayer that would have a reputation in the heavenlies of seeing the devil's schemes thwarted and breakthrough happening in this church. Lord, bring revival, bring hope, bring joy.

And I pray that we would walk in your presence and your power as those who are called by name into your kingdom. Lord, we love you and we praise you in Jesus name. And everybody said amen. Hey, let's lift up some praise to our kingdom.