The Cost of Being First - Sarah Jakes Roberts

0:00Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments. You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text. You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applaud those moments, but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like, and that's exactly what growth therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works, covered by insurance. Insurance average $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality licensed therapists across the US, offering both virtual and in-person sessions, nights and weekends. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability, and you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48-day average.

1:00See if you could pay as little as $0 per therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com slash a cast. That's growtherapy.com slash a cast. Growtherapy.com slash a cast. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. This episode is sponsored by ZockDock. Have you been putting off a doctor's appointment or needed Dennis and you don't know where to start? I've definitely been there and that's why we use ZockDock. Actually, over the holidays, Michael had a dental emergency and seemingly every office was closed. But we hopped on to ZockDock, found an in-network dentist, had great reviews, so real-time appointments available, which was key. It was on New Year's Day and booked in appointment and just minutes. It took so much of the stress out of the already stressful situation. ZockDock makes it easy to search and compare over 250,000 local in-network providers across more than 200 specialties.

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3:06Amen. The subject is the cost of being first. The cost of being first. We are in Luke 22 at this point in the text and we're doing the best we can to make sure that the service feels as succinct and impactful as possible. But I want to give you a little bit of my philosophy when I am prepping and planning for a message. I'm thinking about those of you who may have gone through the Bible, you know it covered a cover and it all makes sense to you. Then I'm thinking about people like me who were raised in church and didn't necessarily know how everything connected and then people who weren't raised in church at all, this is their first time even being in a faith environment. We have a room that large and that many different experiences trying to cover everybody can be a little bit lengthy but I'm doing the best that I can. I say that to say that I want to lay a little bit of foundation of what's taken place in this text. Jesus is with His 12 disciples.

4:07They are in Jerusalem for a feast and annual feast called the Passover. And Jesus has been in ministry for three years and He sits His 12 disciples, His 12 rhododise, His 12 personal assistance, executive assistance, He pulls them into a room and He begins to let them know that the hour has come in which He must go to the cross. He's told them this throughout His journey but they are now standing in the moment in which He is preparing for crucifixion. They have an elaborate supper and if you are doing your own deep dive and getting closer to God I want to encourage you. Thank you for turning me up in the monitors. I want to encourage you to go back through and look at this through context because it's one thing to have something preached to you. It's another thing for you to see it for yourself. But at this moment in the text He's pulled Peter one of His more close disciples close to Him. He pulls them to the side and Peter is, a lot of people know this but for those of you who don't know He would be like your friend who if you was going to go see somebody who

5:16you have a little bit of beef with and you don't know exactly how they are going to act when you see them and you need somebody who wouldn't mind cutting an ear off to be with you. That one that you don't take everywhere because every time is not the time to cut an ear off and they don't know when to put the sword up. He's called Peter and he pulls Peter is like I'm loyal he walks on water. He has this idea of who he is as a disciple and Jesus pulls him to the side and he says Simon, Simon. Indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail and when you have returned to me strengthen your brethren. Peter hears this and Peter says to him Lord I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death.

6:17I'm in it with you wherever you go I'm going if you bat it that's what I'm on it. If you nukin I am indeed bucking. That was a test to see how saved y'all was some of y'all. Then Jesus says to him who you think you are you not really who you think you are like that. He said Peter the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny me three times. You will deny three times that you know me. Here to the living God please breathe through this word make your presence tangible. Give me language give me wisdom God and I ask that as I pour that you would feel and God I thank you that you would remove any barriers any distractions any excuses that would keep someone from receiving this word whether they're in this room or watching

7:17online God I pray that this would be an intimate encounter with you that you would whisper in their ear things only you and them know about and I thank you God for the privilege of holding this word unworthy as I am you are trusting me with this moment and so I ask that you would decrease me and increase you your spirit your presence your power in me that it would overflow and touch and transform everybody in this room and I thank you God for wisdom for prophecy for revelation that the fullness of the spirit would be on display in Jesus name amen amen family let's go to work there is an occurrence that takes place when there is an earthquake and seismologists look at the study of earthquakes to determine if there were any signs that would indicate that it was happening and it doesn't happen

8:21with every earthquake but every now and then actually quite frequently there is a trimmer that takes place before the earthquake now tremors are happening all of the time but there are some moments that tremors happen repeatedly in a specific area and because it happens repeatedly in that specific area the earthquake is not actually that surprising but the only thing is they don't know until after the earthquake to look in that area for the tremors those tremors they have a technical term they're called a foreshock and those foreshocks happen before the actual earthquake a tremor is what I would like to present to you as not just something that happens in the earth but something that happens in the world as well when there's a shift that's going to take place that there are foreshocks that happen before the initial shaking of things

9:22and when we realize that there is a foreshock before the initial shaking we look back and hantzai you know this in your own life where you look back and you think oh the Lord was kind of preparing me for things before that actually happened there were a few foreshocks that took place in history a foreshock would be an example of a foreshock would be Claudette Colvin Claudette Colvin was a 15 year old girl who refused to give up her seat on a bus not only did she refuse to give a per seat on the bus she was also arrested for not giving up her seat she was the first person to ever do this and she was 15 years old and this happened before Rosa Parks refused to give a per seat Rosa Parks was the earthquake but Claudette was the foreshock she was the first one and she sometimes the cost of being first is that you're ignored sometimes the cost of being first is

10:24that a way is paved they don't just realize that you are the pavement that they're standing on and she gets arrested in process and there's a whole discussion worth having about the respectability politics that made Rosa Parks a better candidate for the protest but what I came here to tell you is that she wasn't the first in that instance but she was the first to spark a protest because she refused to give a per seat not the first to do it but the first to spark a protest and because she sparked a protest there was a shaking in the Montgomery bus system that radically changed the attitudes on integration at the time so she wasn't the first to do that but she was the first to do this I think that's important for us to understand because I believe that each of us are called to be the first in some capacity and when you realize that you are called to be the first in some capacity you recognize that there is going to be a moment and your DNA is

11:25assigned to you are the first your unique DNA there's nobody like you on the planet when you realize that you were going to be the first to do something I wanted to tell you that there's going to be a cost to being first regardless of when you get started because though Rosa Parks wasn't ignored the cost of her being first was that she experienced death threats she made history but shortly after the protest she was living in economic instability because she didn't have the ability to just go out and get a job anymore so she made history but the cost of being first meant that she had a livelihood that was very fragile yeah see because the cost of being first is that sometimes people celebrate you but they don't know that on the back end that I had to go through all kinds of things that you would have never imagined everyone is celebrating what I did but nobody knows the real cost that came with it that I had to ask some people to help me pay my rent that some people had to come in and serve and support me I was the first but I almost lost my mind in the

12:27process I was the first but I lost some things along the way it cost to be first and sometimes we are so inundated with the pursuit we want to be the first we want the honor of being first we want the privilege of being the first one in our family to break a generational curse we want to be the first one in our family to survive something but nobody's talking about the horror that comes with the honor of being first oh I wish I had some people in this room who would be honest that if you get a word from God that you're going to be the first to do something you get real excited when you get the word from God because you believe I got faith for it and I know that if God said it then I can do it and I know that if God said it then I can perform it and I'm going to pay the new way for my family and I'm going to be the first one to think differently and the first one to act differently but nobody tells you that when you start setting out to be the first that all hell starts breaking loose nobody tells you that when you start to step into what God has called you to do

13:30its first that all of a sudden you start questioning yourself that you start questioning your ability that all of a sudden being first reveals where I have deficiency it reveals where I have ignorance it reveals the areas where I'm underdeveloped and all of a sudden now I understand why no one else wanted to do this because it's hard to be first it's lonely to be first it can be confusing to be first you got to be willing to walk some things out on your own if you're going to be first you got to be willing to have confidence in yourself because nobody else is going to have confidence in you when you want to be first you got to be willing to disrupt the system of what's been considered normal when you're going to be first that's why you need God if you're going to be first because if you're going to be first and something God has called you to do you're going to need the strength of God in order to accomplish it when you decide God I'm going to do what you have called me to do and I don't care what stands in my way you don't even realize that you may be the things standing in your way and God's going to have to disrupt what you know and disrupt what you

14:33think in order to be first yeah I'm going to be the first to break the generational curse and then you step into the moments that kind of produce the curse to begin with and you realize that if I'm really going to be the first I'm going to see sometimes we judge the choices that people made until we're standing in the situation that created them and then when we're standing in the situation that we created them we realize I realize why you made the decisions you made it's not so easy to say no it's not so easy to see keep stepping and to keep going and to keep your strength about you because when you're first you come through some attacks that nobody else understands I wish I had some people in this room who knows what it's like to be on the front lines that I had to take some bullets that nobody else could take that I had to take some beatings that no one else could withstand I caused it cost to be first it hurt me it broke me it changed me and yet I've been called to be a foreshock oh God help me because I got a shake things up

15:43and if I'm going to shake things up I have to be willing to go first and to get in the shaking oh God help me I'm trying to stay on track I got to be willing to get on the front line and God doesn't grant everybody the capacity to be first at everything because not everyone can handle the cost of being first whatever God has called you to be first in whether you're going to be the first in your generation the first in your organization the first in your school whatever God has called you to be first and he's also going to cultivate the capacity required for you to be first so you cannot insist that other people come with you because they may not have the capacity to be first oh I cannot make you have my capacity and I can't be sad that you don't have it

16:44because God has graced me with the capacity to do this oh there are some things that you have been able to accomplish that it's not just because you have the skill set and had the intellect and that you did everything the right way it's that God gave you the capacity to do things that other people in your family could not do he gave you the capacity to think on another level he gave you the capacity to create on another level and I don't want you to believe that just because it's hard that you're not called because if being hard is a part of the cost it is supposed to be expensive for you to be first do not let the social media fool you anybody who's doing anything for the first time is doing it blind doing it inadequate not sure who they are but they're doing it anyway oh I had some people in my life who showed me how to do it anyway you need some people who don't just teach you how to win and you need some people who don't just show you how to gossip you need some people in your life who show you how to do it anyway because it's going to be hard I thank you daddy because you taught me how to keep on showing up I thank you daddy because

17:48you shot taught me how to show up when I had pain in my body I thank you daddy that you went ahead of me and you took a few bullets and you took a few rumors and you took a few lies and slander because you taught me how to keep standing even when all hell is God I thank you for giving me somebody who could be a force I got I thank you that you're still standing you just see him walk me down the steps he's still going ahead of me trying to make sure that I understand that I have what it takes certain things don't scare me because I saw it certain things don't scare me because I know you can survive it and you need people in your life who can show you what it's like to keep standing yeah a foreshock God help me help me Jesus what we're going to do

18:50God told me that there are people in this room who he is positioning to be first and it's been hard and it's been expensive and you're questioning whether or not you're still called to be first and I heard God say it is supposed to be expensive to be you it is supposed to be expensive for you to pave the way it calls something to be first and when we find Peter in this text Peter's not the first disciple he's not the first disciple who gets to serve Jesus he's a first of many things but he is the first one that Jesus pulls to the side to give insight into what's about to take place Peter is a foreshock and Jesus pulls him to the side because there's a shaking

19:53coming oh holy ghost oh to be positioned so closely to Jesus that he trest you with the shaking before it happens he doesn't pull all of the disciples he pulls Peter and there are some people in this room who the Lord has given prophetic insight that a shaking is coming oh how would it go so I feel it there's a shaking coming there's a shaking coming there's a shaking coming and you fill it in your spirit there's a shaking coming in your household and you fill it in your spirit there's a shaking coming in the world and you fill it in your spirit I came to let somebody know you're not crazy the Lord's been dropping it in your spirit because he's trying to prepare you there's a shaking coming there's a shaking not everybody can handle it but you see it there's a shaking coming there's a shaking coming there's a shaking coming there's a revival coming but it's gonna get scary before it gets good there's a shaking coming there's a shaking coming and everyone

20:54else may hear this news and be afraid but there are some people who can take this news and be prepared to be positioned properly so that when the shaking happens it doesn't catch them by surprise oh I feel a prophetic spirit in this room I feel like God has been nudging somebody and trying to make sense of what's taking place in the world he's a Simon Simon that double that Simon Simon saying it twice means I'm trying to get your attention there's something happening here and he says something crazy he says Satan has asked for you oh he's asked to sift you as we oh can I teach this thing for a minute Simon Simon I need your attention I know I'm talking about going to the cross I know I'm talking about dying for sins I know I'm talking about the new covenant but I want you to know specifically I got a secret for you that Satan has asked for you and he wants to put you in a

21:56process called sifting time to stand what sifting is you got to envision a round basket with almost like holes on the bottom like a strainer or a colander and they would take the wheat from the harvest and they would put it within this seed they call it a seed and they put it in this seed and they shake it violently shaking it because they're trying to get the chav to break apart from the wheat and the only way to get it to separate is to put it in a process where it's shaken violently and Jesus says Peter Peter Peter Simon Simon saving wants to put you in the seed and he wants to shake you violently oh see you got to understand oh god I feel it I want you to understand what it's like to be a person in a shaking to be a person being sifted means that the Lord

23:02is telling him that Satan is going to put you and your anointing and your insecurities and your strengths and your weaknesses that you're used to keeping all separated and neatly tucked apart and he's going to put you in an environment he's going to put you in a situation where it all starts getting shaken up together where you don't know if I'm anointed anymore or if I'm going crazy he's going to put you in a situation where it's dark and so shaken up that you don't even know who you are anymore oh but this is the cost to be in first the cost to be in first is that you got to go through some shaking the cost to be in first is meaning my anointing is bumping up against my insecurities and my past is bumping up against my purpose and my pain is bumping up against my hope and I thought I had something but maybe I don't have nothing and I thought I was called but maybe I'm not going through the sifting and I'm being shaken up

24:06so don't be surprised when the shaken happens anybody know what that's like to be in a situation where all of you starts running into all of you I said we're all of you sometimes I'm anointed sometimes I'm afraid sometimes I feel powerful sometimes I can't get out of bed sometimes I feel strong sometimes I feel depressed I think I might be being sifted sometimes I feel like I got it sometimes I feel like I got nothing at all I think I might be being sifted sometimes I believe what they say about me sometimes I ignore but I feel like it's all the sifting that analogy is wheat and it's not just the wheat in the chaff it's the dirt in the debris it's the rocks it's the trauma it's the anointing it's all running together

25:08and the point of the sifting is that Satan is helping that if I shake you up well enough you won't remember who you are if I shake you up well enough if I can make you keep bumping into your past and bumping into your history and one day I'm clean and one day I'm not and one day I'm holy and one day I'm not if I make you keep bumping up a gift yourself maybe you'll quit altogether who who shaking up oh god I've been shaking up and I'm starting to question everything and saying said I got you right where I want you because now you won't trust who God says you are and now you won't believe what God said about you and now you won't know the calm on

26:13Jesus or the call Tyrone I'm got you shaken y'all can play charts with me if you want to I know you know Tyrone's number Tyresha what's your collar don't mean nothing to me what's funny is that when I look at this text and when I look at it in the Greek Jesus oh holy ghost I'm sorry I just feel something in my spirit when you look at it in the Greek it says Satan has asked for you that word you is actually plural he's asked for all of you is what it means but then when Jesus says but I have prayed for you that prayed for you is singular because Peter is a foreshock he's asked for all of you all of you were going to go through the shaking

27:16all of you are going to have to run into the debris of who you are and the weed of who you are all of you are going to be shaken up but there's one of you who I'm praying for in this process because one of you can make the difference for all of you oh god I said one of you could make the difference for all of you so so what's the difference what's the difference about Jesus if this is me and I'm Peter and I'm talking to Jesus and Satan has asked for me you know what Jesus couldn't you have told him you don't know me you know what I mean but what Jesus says to him is where the real power is oh because when I hear Satan has asked for me I get afraid I get nervous because I don't know if I have what it takes to withstand the spiritual

28:19warfare connected with what he's asked for but Jesus gives us insight into where our focus should be and the moments where we are experiencing a sifting he says but I have prayed for you that'll mean muster you all because we send thoughts and prayers all the time but I want you to know that Jesus praying for you is different than me praying for you when I pray for you I have to say in the name of Jesus because he is the only way that I can approach the throne of grace when I pray for you my heart is in the right place but I'm not anymore worthy to pray for you then you are worthy to pray for yourself and I'm going to do the best that I can but when Jesus prays for me he's the only one worthy enough to stand in front of our God with no sin and no shame and pray for me

29:19from a position of power and authority that's why he doesn't have to rescue Peter from the saving because my prayer for you in the sifting is stronger than the sifting that you're going through oh I wish I could say that real good if you knew who was praying for you if I hopped on over into Hebrews I will tell you that he's making an obsession on your behalf right now and if you didn't want to go to Hebrews I jump on over into Romans and I'll let you know that he's seated on the right hand of the Father making an obsession on your behalf right now if you understood who's praying for you that he's got all power in his hands so when he says devil let it loose we don't have to wonder if this gonna happen when he tells death no death has to back up off of you you don't know who's praying for you

30:22okay you don't know who's praying for you you think it's just us you don't know who's praying for you that demons tremble like the very mention of his name you don't know who's praying for you that all hell is under his feet you don't know who's praying for you that he went down into hell and took the keys to death and said you know what I'ma take a few souls while I'm down here too you don't know who's praying for you so so you mean to tell me that I don't have to be afraid that Satan has asked for me I just have to believe in the power of who's praying for me some of y'all get the devil too much credit

31:23because if you really believed who was praying for you you would know that there is nothing that he can touch that God has not allowed him to touch and the only reason that God would allow him to touch it is because God can restore anything that he does touch you must not know who's praying for you but I bet if you look back over your life and look at the things that should have taken you out that somebody must have been praying for me I'm talking about the things that nobody knows about that you should have been overdosed that you should have been in jail but somebody must have been praying for you as if Jesus must have been praying for me I should have been captured I should have been around somewhere with nothing that I saw in my head but he must have been praying for me Lord knows I wasn't praying for myself and nobody knew what I was going through that molestation should have taken me out I said I lost my mom but somebody must have been praying for me praying

32:26with power praying with authority praying that I wouldn't give up praying that I wouldn't back down praying that I'd keep my hours in the doctor's room and they was messing with my spine and I was knocked out cold but baby somebody must have been praying for me I was up at night building a business that nobody could see no clue what I was doing but somebody must have been praying for me that child that I raised that you think looks all good I didn't have a clue what I was doing but somebody praying praying right now while you worrying he's praying while you trying to figure that on your own he's praying

33:32seated on the right hand of the father making an intercession on your behalf he don't sleep and he don't slumber he don't need a nap he told us him get cinnamon he I don't need a nap I'm on my prayer resigning he prayed for me but listen listen listen do your work Holy Ghost do your work Holy Ghost do your work Holy Ghost because somebody been going through warfare and they didn't realize that somebody been praying for you crying yourself to sleep but he been praying for you look look at what Jesus prays because Jesus prays with specificity it's not one of those I'm praying for you prayers

34:32oh can I say I love this text says Jesus is as free but I have prayed for you that's past tense not I will pray for you I have prayed for you you haven't even stepped into it yet and I've already covered you in the thing that's gonna make you feel uncovered I've prayed for you listen that your faith should not fail now we know what the warfare is about it's about your faith the warfare is about your faith it's not about your stuff it's not even about your kids it's not about the business it's about your faith Jesus says I know exactly what to pray for as you go through this your faith is under attack

35:41because when I look at you I know what to pray I know what you need but listen it's so important that we realize that he's praying for his faith to not fail he's praying that his faith will survive he's praying that his faith won't fail when he fails oh you understand what I'm saying oh this is probably no one talk about Peter is going to fail he's gonna be sifted and he's gonna fail and when he fails Jesus is praying that his faith doesn't fail with him will your faith survive when you fail and I look at this text and Peter's response

36:44tells me everything I need to know about who we are as people because when Peter responds Peter tells him lord I am ready to go with you both to prison in zeth now Jesus has told him Satan has asked for you to sift you as wheat and I've prayed for you that your faith wouldn't fail and that when you return to me you'll strengthen your brother and and Peter goes that's not going to happen I'm gonna go with you to the very end because Peter has more faith in himself than he does and what Jesus said oh oh God help me to say it real good sometimes we have faith for something more than we have faith in God and Peter has faith for who he's gonna be so when he fails his faith that he has in who he's going to be has to fail too

37:53because the faith was misplaced it was not meant for you to have faith in yourself if you have a faith that ends in you you don't have faith at all I know that's awkward and a little uncomfortable but you don't have faith so that you can do what you're called to do you have faith in God because I know I'm gonna mess up and I know I'm gonna fail and if my faith ends with my limitations when I fail I won't be able to get back up again but when I have faith in God even when I fail I know that he will pick me back up again oh can I tell you something when he says I pray that your faith won't cease that that word fail

38:56in the Greek it means cease that your faith won't stop I want to talk to some people in this room who set out to be first and it got hard and you had faith for a certain version of who you would be faith for a kind of life that you thought you would live and if we're honest we're grieving the fact that that failed therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough it shows up in the smallest moments you bite your tongue instead of escalating you put your phone down instead of firing off that text you say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most nobody applauds those moments but they quietly change your life that's what growing feels like and that's exactly what growth therapy is here for grow is therapy that works covered by insurance

40:01sessions average $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan there are no subscriptions no long-term commitments you just pay per session grow connects you with thousands of high quality licensed therapists across the US offering both virtual and in-person sessions nights and weekends you can search by what matters like insurance specialty identity or availability and you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days not the national 48 day average see if you could pay as little as $0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com slash a cast that's growtherapy.com slash a cast growtherapy.com slash a cast availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan this episode is sponsored by zokdok have you been putting off a doctor's appointment or needed Dennis and you don't know where to start we've definitely been there and that's why we use zokdok actually over the holidays Michael had a dental

41:04emergency and seemingly every office was closed but we hopped on to zokdok found an in-network dentist had great reviews so real-time appointments available which was key it was on New Year's day and booked an appointment in just minutes it took so much of the stress out of the already stressful situation zokdok makes it easy to search and compare over 250,000 local in-network providers across more than 200 specialties so you can find the right doctor or Dennis and book instantly taking care of your health just got easier download the zokdok app today and book that appointment on your to-do list that's zoc doc zokdok and it feels like you've lost all of your faith and because it feels like you've lost all of your faith you don't realize that your faith

42:06was maybe in the wrong thing to begin with oh i wish i could say i want to be tender with your heart because it's easy to let go of a version of ourselves that's got shame and addiction that's easy to let go of but what do you do when you have to let go of a version of yourself that you thought was going to be strong what do you do when you have to let go of a version of yourself that doesn't have the type of integrity and loyalty and character that you thought you would have what do you have to do when you have to give up faith in yourself to let hold of faith in Jesus yeah Jesus doesn't pray that his ego makes it he doesn't pray that his reputation stays intact he doesn't pray that he doesn't experience humiliation he doesn't pray that he can just go through it in private and nobody knows

43:10he doesn't pray any of those things because those are the types of things that we would pray Lord if i'm gonna go through this sift and don't let it touch anybody don't let it change the way people see me God just protect me cover he doesn't pray any of those things he prays that his faith won't fail in the shaky not his faith in himself but his faith in who Jesus he is because if he can maintain faith in who Jesus is he can let go of himself and the need to protect himself and the need to show his own strength and the need to come off as the best disciple maybe the greatest gift you can give yourself is letting go of all of the faith that you put in yourself that should have been placed in him oh I'm sorry because isn't that too much pressure for you anyway

44:17for you to put all of the faith in yourself to break every curse to show up for everybody to know everything to be ahead of the game isn't that too much pressure for you to put on yourself and no wonder you're tired and no wonder you're scrambling trying to figure out how what things gonna come together you place too much faith in yourself when you get to a place where you realize that your faith is ultimately in God you can say things like Paul said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me because my faith is in him and when your faith is in him it changes the way you show up in warfare because I don't have to strategize my way out of this I have a faith that says that Jesus is praying for me and if Jesus is praying for me and I live in the consciousness that Jesus is praying for me even when I'm going through all hell I realize that there's a strategy I stay close to Jesus in the middle of the trial because I have faith in him

45:21I have faith that he's gonna see me through this I have faith that he's gonna show me how to walk I have faith that he's gonna show me how to navigate this situation in circumstances I have faith in him that he'll come from me when I need comfort that he'll give me strength when I need strength I have faith in him and Peter has to learn this lesson first I'm closing because if Peter learns this lesson first who does a lot riding on this sifting and if Peter gets this thing right he's gonna be the rock that Jesus uses to build this church and Peter gets this thing it's a lot riding on this sifting I'm not just talking about Peter's anymore I'm talking about yours there's a lot riding on this sifting that's it you're gonna just you're not gonna just be the first one to do it you're gonna be the bridge that helps everyone else get through it see because Jesus said in the Bible he says that I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail and when you return to me oh that word return means to convert that means that when you get over who you thought you

46:26were supposed to be that means when you let go of how you thought your life was gonna look that means when you finally submit to the fact that these are the cards you have been dealt and you trust me with them anyway when you return when your faith makes a conversion I don't know who you are but I hear God saying this time for your faith to make a conversion your faith was never supposed to be in the bank your faith was never supposed to be in the industry your faith was never supposed to be in the degree your faith was never supposed to be in the job your faith was never supposed to be in the opportunity your help comes from the Lord I know they may sign the check but I know who at the end of the day is my provider I call him healer I call him waymaker I call him Shire I call him my aunt and my beginning I call him my morning and my settings son I call him my lawyer I call him my doctor and I know that as he before me he's more than the world that can't see me

47:26let me tell you you're covered you're covered you're gonna be the first and it's gonna be hard and it's gonna be expensive but God says I'm gonna give you the road map and I know that God gave him a road map because if I hopped on over in the axe and I saw all hell breaking loose against Peter in axe I will show you that when they started coming up against him that Peter went to not just being the one who had intercession being prayed over him but Peter becomes the one who stands in the gap himself and he begins interceding you know why you can intercede for others because I know somebody's interceding for me and when I know that I'm covered it changes what I pray for when I know he's looking out for me I pray different now all of a sudden Peter who was the one who was afraid to go into the shaking is the one causing the shaking how do I know he's causing

48:28the shaking because when I read my Bible and I see that he's been locked up in the prison sales and they're trying to figure out how did you get out of here he started praying and he started worshipping and when he started praying he must have told Paul how to do the same thing because when Paul I guess maybe he was a foresight to show every disciple that when they're going this time when you get finished going through what you go through you want to be paving away for everyone else connected to you I'll miss so you had his tan when all hell breaks loose I'll miss so you had to keep going after you fail I want to talk to somebody who doesn't need life to go the way you plan because I'm here on an assignment Peter is here on an assignment and so are you

49:38and we got three minutes to get out of here but I'm gonna give you 60 seconds to give God the kind of praise that shakes your pride off of you I'm gonna give you 60 seconds to give God the kind of praise I dare you to get a little undignified save him he's praying for me I'm coming out of this mess I may have to let a few things go but I won't let go of my faith he that began to work in me he's not a quitter I can't quit because he didn't quit on me and I may have to say some things off

50:44I may have to say it all I don't look like what I thought I was going to look like it's not moving the way I thought it was going to move but that's okay because I can't quit because it started with him so I got to put my faith back in the hands of the author and the finisher of mine yeah well I'm finished that's all I came to say that's all I came to say it's expensive to do you it's gonna be hard to be you but it's not just you and you're not in it on your own and you have been called to be a foreshock because there is a shaking that's coming all if I had about three more minutes

51:50I jumped back over in the Hebrew and I would tell you that's what's happening in the world is not happening by coincidence because in Hebrews the author said let everything that can be shaken be shaken so that that was cannot be shaken can remain so when the system gets finished the only faith standing is the only thing worth building I feel like in a little rowdy in here so we got to go I feel like in a little rowdy in here so I said we got to go grab your bag because you said next to somebody that might pursue until you break through you better get out of here because you said next to a foreshock I said you said next to a foreshock and the more you praise the more they get a revelation then he meant to claim but God meant to cook good that the shaking's got

52:55in and when the shaking is over you won't still be here I dare you to grab them you won't still we finished we're finished I think we finished I guess I said everything I have to say but maybe you so my demons trembling so my things being broken so my strongholds coming down I hear guys saying what you lift up in his house and go touch your house

54:04I don't know where you watching but there is a hole in those annoyances we take a place in his church and if you sit and walk doing here it might just overflow into your living room listen okay yeah God has got please yeah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah when he prays it hits different when he prays it changes your posture when he tells hell no it has to move out of the way he doesn't tell Peter turn your attention to Satan hold on to your faith

55:13the siftings happening I see you I'm sorry this happening you're not crazy it's all all bumping together and it's violent and I'm losing myself in the process maybe maybe that's not so bad maybe losing yourself in the process maybe that's not so bad yeah Jesus told the young ruler you want to come with me you have to leave everything I want to pray with you Jesus Jesus Jesus actually I hear you all this fear I want you to just worship with the awareness that right now in this moment

56:23Jesus is making intercession for you I have prayed for you I'm praying for you praying for your faith I'm praying for your strength you you're covered I'm covering you I'm covering you I'm covering you I'm covering you I'm covering you I knew it was coming I went ahead of you I knew it was going to be hard I went ahead of you I prayed for you I prayed for you I prayed for you I knew it was going to be hard I knew it was going to

57:24happen but my prayer is making the difference receive the love of Jesus praying with specificity for what you need the Holy Spirit making intercession right now on your behalf thank you Jesus Jesus Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough it shows up in the smallest moments you bite your tongue instead of escalating you put your phone down instead of firing

58:24off that text you say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most nobody applauds those moments but they quietly change your life that's what growing feels like and that's exactly what growth therapy is here for grow is therapy that works covered by insurance sessions average $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan there are no subscriptions no long-term commitments you just pay per session grow connects you with thousands of high quality licensed therapists across the US offering both virtual and in-person sessions nights and weekends you can search by what matters like insurance specialty identity or availability and you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days not the national 48-day average see if you could pay as little as $0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com slash a cast that's growtherapy.com slash a cast growtherapy.com slash a cast availability

59:29and coverage vary by state and insurance plan you're listening to a quick ad you know what else is quick selling your car on Carvana just put in your vehicle information and we'll give you an offer ton no hassle no negotiation no guy from an online listing lowball in you which means by the time I'm done explaining this you could have basically done it still haven't started hey better late than ever sell your car today on Carvana pick up fees may apply lost confused searching for direction I already knew that I'm praying for you I'm praying I'm praying I'm praying thank you Jesus you're in this room

1:00:39and life didn't go the way you anticipated and you've lost faith in the life that you thought you'd have the kids didn't come the business didn't do what you thought it was and your faith failed at the place where you feel like you were failed I want to invite you to return to him for your faith to return to the original center maybe you're in this room and you don't know Jesus you want to know him you got questions you're curious about him I just want you to wave at me at that you you need to return to Jesus

1:01:40wave at me just throw your hands up come on no shame no condemnation if that's you just wave at me wave at me put your hand up so I can see it I see you I see you I see you I see you I see you I see there's no shame Peter was a disciple who walked with Jesus and Jesus says you don't have to return to me sometimes we stride your way I want to pray with you too that we will put our faith where it belongs some of you have faith in yourself because faith in yourself is the only way the two could survive what you went through but that season of your life has shifted and you need to have faith in him so that you can be who he has faith in not who you have faith in I'm going to pray but I've already told you that my prayer is no different than yours I have to say in Jesus name but even when my prayer concludes his will continue thank you Jesus

1:02:51thank you for going ahead of us you are the first of many brethren and Lord many of us are now standing in a shaking our faith has been shaken our idea of what our lives would look like have been shaken the economy in the world is unpredictable and yet you have still given us a vision for who we are supposed to be in this moment God I'm asking right now that for every person who was touched by this message whether they're in this room or watching online that they would feel relief relief that they would stop focusing on the warfare long enough to receive that you are praying for them God I pray that you would take them into a deeper revelation of who you are so that they understand the advocate that they have

1:03:51when you say that Jesus is seated on the right hand of the Father making an intercession help them to understand the power of what that means the authority and the position that Jesus has that equips him and empowers him to pray for them with specificity and God I pray that as they receive as truth that they have a savior that prays for them that they would feel covered in ways that man could never do that they would feel covered in ways that perhaps they have been failed in the past God I thank you that you're going to reveal your covering over their lives and as you reveal their covering God I pray that it shifts them that it changes the way that they show up that they would walk with boldness power and authority that their faith would be converted God and that it would rest on you and you alone repeat after me heavenly Father thank you for this word

1:04:52I needed it Father I'm going to be the first but it's hard it's an honor and it's scary I can't do it on my own fill me with your spirit thank you for Jesus thank you for making him who had no sin all of mine all of my weakness all of my limitations all of my fears you place in his body and nail them to the cross and put them to death help me remember that it's dead that I don't have to be governed by fear by pride nor by ego because you put it to death

1:05:53in Jesus body and when he was raised up free and victorious I was raised up to when the stone rolled away and the ground began to shake a new dimension was available to me thank you for Jesus I receive him as my savior my intercessor and the one who makes a way seal this word let it take root and produce fruit in Jesus name amen amen family listen if you're here and you want a little more prayer I want to encourage you to come down to the front our ministers and elders they love to pray and some of you may be trying to figure out how to pray maybe you're going through a season

1:06:58where you don't have the words at all intercession is very important Jesus is the first one that shows us what intercession can look like and our prayer our ministers and elders are intercessors waiting to pray with you if you're here in this room and you're looking for a church home maybe you've visited a few times maybe it's your first time but you say you know what I could really rock with that you can hit the QR code here on the screen but if you're like you know what I need to meet somebody I like to know people at my church I want to invite you to come down here to the left our pastors are here we got some of the best pastors in the world can y'all help me vouch we've got the world's absolute best pastors they're down here on the left you see pastor Robinson ask him about the commanders in the cowboys game last weekend I stay in the spirit now stay unified I want to pray with you as we close out real fast we thank God for cooler weather in Texas if you're still it's sweater weather in Texas is 95 degrees whatever you face this week no matter how uncertain

1:08:08or daunting it is no matter how many successes or failures are connected with it if you don't remember anything else I want you to remember that Jesus is making an intercession for you when you don't know what to pray when you don't even want to invite somebody into what you're going through know that he's praying for you and resting his spirit in his presence in those moments may the Lord bless and keep you may make his face to shine upon you and be gracious towards you may he lift up his countenance over you and grant you shalom shalom in Jesus name I'll see you next week family you've been listening to the potter's house podcast if this episode encourage your faith walk it out with the door until next time be blessed hi this is Mark bitman from the podcast food with Mark bitman I've been writing about food and restaurants

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