Sermon Transcript

And you got me going in Romans there.

As you opened that up, that was good.

That was really good.

Yeah, Romans 12.

The one that really stood out to me.

Verse 21, at the very end of Romans 12 there.

Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Don't let evil conquer you,

feel like i mean the devil just keeps trying to kick you and kick you and kick you don't let him conquer you no you just keep doing good what's good get into god's word there's victory in his word you are more than conquerors in christ jesus you are

I can feel that today.

If you go back there in Romans 12 verse 14, it says, bless those who persecute you.

This is how you do good.

Bless those who persecute you.

Don't curse them.

Pray that God will bless them.

That's really hard.

The devil is using some people in your life right now to make you mad, to make you angry, to make you bitter.

to hurt you, to harm you.

Bless those who persecute you.

Don't curse them.

Pray that God will bless them.

Be happy with those who are happy and weep with those who weep.

It's okay to weep.

You gotta grieve.

You gotta let it go.

And if it's not you and it's somebody else, you gotta come alongside them.

You gotta weep with those who weep.

It's okay to weep with those who weep.

Don't just blow past it.

This is how you heal.

You got to grieve.

And then you're going to be like, okay, I'm good.

I'm good.

I can run again.

I'm good.

I'm healed.

And then all of a sudden, a week later or a month later or three months later, the devil reminds you or something comes up and it just, and you're right back into that place again.

Just keep forgiving.

Keep praying blessings.

This is how you do good.

This is how you overcome.

This is how you conquer evil in your life.

Live in harmony with each other.

Live in unity.

Live in harmony with each other.

Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people and don't think you know it all.

It's good.

That's really good.

It's good.

There was this young guy that was a strong leader, is a strong leader.

And he had this vision of what he thought the church should be and his small group and everything he does.

And he just had this vision for it.

And I remember one time he was telling me about his small group because I kind of heard like there was some drama or some conflict.

And I just said, hey, maybe we should talk about it.

Like tell me what's going on.

And he's like, well, there's just too many people and not the right kind of people.

I said, what do you mean?

What's the right kind of people?

He just kind of had this vision in his head, and I could just tell, like, oh, there was a look and a style and a dress and, like, just a certain type that he was kind of thinking, like, yeah, they're the right kind of people.

I want them in my group.

But those weren't the people that God brought to his group.

And he was kind of frustrated this one night after small group, after a meeting.

And I called him.

I was like, what happened?

He's like, well, these people, they're just, I just can't handle them.

I was like, what can you handle?

He's like, I just need a bunch of people.

We're going to get hyped and we're going to walk in victory.

And there was just too much, I mean, just craziness and chaos and just like all this.

I was like, no, no, no.

Like if you're called to lead, if you're called to shepherd, you shepherd whoever God puts in your path.

You don't get to pick the sheep.

Come on.

There's some people in your life right now that you're like, God, I don't want them.

I don't want that.

No, no, no, Lord.

I got a picture, Lord.

This is what I want.

Some of you, you're happy Father's Day.

Some of you fathers, you're in here and you're like, this isn't what I thought my kids would look like.

Shepherd those sheep.

You're like, but look at those sheep that that dad's got, or look at those sheep that that family's got.

Take care of the sheep he's given you.

Maybe you've got a vision.

How are you going to get there?

How are you going to get there?

I know how you're going to get there, the Word of God.

And this guy, he was like, well, this isn't what I want.

I was like, well, this is what you've got, so you better figure it out, or else you're not fit to lead in the kingdom.

You better figure it out.

I hope and pray he figures it out someday.

I hope you pray.

I believe today we've got some people that are going to figure it out today.

Come on.

Let's do it together.

Let's pray.

Father God, we love you and we praise you.

Jesus, we just pray that your word would go forth right now, that you would set us free, that you would heal us, that you would deliver us.

You already have.

And so we just pray that we would accept it, that we would receive it.

We pray for an increase in faith today.

God, any place where we've been struggling, where we've been hindered, where the devil has been gaining ground in our life, we pray for that to cease in Jesus' name and we apply the blood.

We walk in victory.

We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.

Amen, amen, amen.

Let's get after it today.

Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Go back to Judges.

I was sitting there in worship, and I just, I mean, my goodness, I just was stuck on the story of Gideon.

Judges 7, Gideon was called to lead.

He was getting ready to go into battle.

And God says, actually, the Lord said to Gideon, you have too many warriors with you.

If you've ever, I don't know if we got any warriors in here, if we got any soldiers.

Oh, we got one soldier with us.

Hey, I see you.

We got some people, like you fought.

If you're going to a fight, you want as many people with you as you can, right?

Like you want to take everybody.

And the Lord said to Gideon, you have too many warriors, right?

So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.

That's a big drop right there.

But the Lord said to Gideon, there are still too many.

Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.

God's going to test them.

When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, divide the men into two groups.

In one group, put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it with their tongues like dogs.

In the other group, put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.

Only 300 of the men drank from their hands.

All the others got down on their knees and drank from their mouths in the stream.

The Lord told Gideon, with these 300 men, I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites.

Send all the others home.

So Gideon collected the provisions and ram's horns of all the other warriors and sent them home.

But he kept the 300 men with them.

Down to 300.

You had thousands.

Now you got 300.

The Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon.

That night the Lord said, get up, go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them.

But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah, listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged.

Then you will be eager to attack.

So Gideon, he took Pyrrha and went down to the edge of the enemy camp.

The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts.

Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore, too many to count.

300 verse, too many to count.

Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream.

The man said, I had this dream and in my dream, a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp.

It hit a tent, turned it over and knocked it flat.

His companion answered, your dream can mean only one thing.

God has given Gideon, son of Joash, the Israelite victory over Midian and all its allies.

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the Lord.

Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, get up, for the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite hordes.

He divided the 300 men into three groups and gave each man a ram's horn and a clay jar with a torch in it.

Then he said, keep your eyes on me.

When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do.

As soon as I and those with me blow the ram's horns, blow your horns too and all around the entire camp and shout for the Lord and for Gideon.

It was just after Midian night, after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and his hundred men, they reached the edge of the Midian night camp.

They blew the ram's horns, broke the jars, then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars.

They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted a sword for the Lord and for Gideon.

Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape when the 300 Israelites blew their horns.

The Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords.

We've got light issues here.

Don't worry about it.

Those who were not killed fled to the places as far as Beth Shiddah, near Zerah, and to the border of Abel and Mahola.

Then Gideon sent for the warriors of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, who joined in chasing the army of Midian.

Gideon also sent messengers through all the hill country.

Come down to attack the Midianites.

Cut them off at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River.

So all the men of Ephraim did as they were told.

They captured Oreb and Zeb, the two Midianite commanders, killing Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeb at the winepress of Zeb.

And they continued to chase the Midianites.

Afterward, the Israelites brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan River.

This one thing just stood out to me.

In all that story, that dream, if you look at that dream again, verse 13 right in there,

I had this dream, and in my dream, a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp.

There we go.

Got some light.

It hit a tent and turned it over and knocked it flat.

It was just really simple.

The bread gives you victory over the enemy.

That's it.

The bread gives you victory over the enemy.

His word is the bread.

Jesus is the word.

Jesus said, I am the bread of life.

You got to get into the word.

I'm telling you, there's victory over whatever you're facing right here, right now.

It's in the bread.

The bread knocks down the camp of the enemy.

It feels like the enemy has taken ground in your life.

It feels like he's winning, like he's advancing, like he's taken and he's gotten a foothold in you.

He's gotten a foothold in your family.

He's gotten a foothold and he's beginning to build a stronghold.

Get back to the bread.

The bread will knock down every stronghold the enemy has tried to build.

He can't stand up to the bread.

So let's just go to the bread today.

Proverbs 24 verse 16.

It says this, the godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.

But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.

Number one, the righteous aren't perfect, they're persistent.

If you're taking notes today, there you go.

The righteous aren't perfect, they're persistent.

It says the godly, the righteous, they may trip seven times, but they get up again.

It doesn't say you'll never trip.

It just says you'll get up again.

Just get up again.

Every time.

Whenever you fall, get back up again.

Number two, the wicked waiver.

There's two different kinds of waiver.

I actually, when I was looking up the definition today, it hit me.

I was like, oh, I thought they were both spelled the same ways.

No, no, no.

There's waiver with an I and waiver without an I. And I was looking for the waiver without an I, but actually when I looked at the definition of waiver with an I, I was like, oh, that's it.

The wicked waiver.

Look at this.

The act of intentionally relinquishing or abandoning a known right, claim, or privilege.

That's the wicked waiver.

Some of us are signing the wicked waiver.

When we run, when we flee, you're signing the wicked waiver.

You're agreeing to give up your rights and privileges as a son and a daughter.

That's the wicked waiver.

Do not sign the wicked waiver.

Do you understand that?

That is so good.

It might hit some of you on the drive home today.

You're going to be like, oh, I get it now.

I get it.

Here, let me help you.

Let me help you.

Where do you sign a waiver at, right?

Like when you're going on a hospital?

Yeah, it's like, hey, we might screw this up.

You can't sue us.

Like you're giving up rights, right?

You're giving up legal rights.

We used to have to do on youth trips, we had to have kids, you know, their parents had to sign a waiver to come with us.

It's like, hey, if we lose your kid, if they run off, like if they run off and, you know, get lost in the woods, like out in this campground, like...

You can't sue us.

Like, sorry.

I'm sorry.

Like, we did have a girl one year run off, and she was mad about something.

I think somebody stole her boyfriend, and I don't know.

She ran off.

It was midnight.

Nobody could find her.

We're like up in, we're down in Missouri at this campground.

There's like, you know, lakes and rocks, and I mean, we're just, we're doing a whole manhunt for this girl.

That won't happen at Pastor Stone's youth conference, all right?

That won't happen, all right?

So, hey, if you got high school, middle school kids, get them signed up.

It's going to be good.

They won't get lost, okay?

But listen, we had kids sign this waiver, and don't worry, we found that girl, all right?

She was fine.

She came back.

In fact, I just saw her at a wedding on Friday.

Her friend was getting married, and she was there, and I was like, hey, you remember that one?

No, I didn't bring that up.

I didn't bring that up.

Remember that time you ran off?

That was crazy.

She's a great kid.

She really is.

It's a waiver, right?

Like you give up legal rights.

You have legal rights.

In fact, I think I saw it there in Romans.

When we were looking at Romans, go back to Romans really quick.

Maybe Romans 12 or Romans 13.

There was something that just popped out to me there.

And I don't know if I'll be able to find it again, but it was so good.

Oh, 12 verse 3.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me.

Paul understood his privilege and authority.

Paul stood strong.

He did not flee.

He did not run.

He stood strong.

He was bold.

He was bold.

He trusted in the Lord.

When you flee or when you run...

You give up your legal rights in the kingdom.

You give up privilege and authority that God has granted you as a son and a daughter in the kingdom.

You need to know this.

The righteous are as bold as a lion.

The righteous don't run.

They stand strong.

Come on.

You want to stand strong today or you want to run?

Don't sign the wicked waiver.

Don't sign over your legal rights to the devil.

Don't do it.

That's not who you are.

That's not who you're called to be.

You're a son and you're a daughter adopted by the blood of Christ Jesus.

Don't give up your legal rights today.

Don't sign that wicked waiver.

I'm telling you, that is so good.

It's still going to hit some of you at lunch and you're going to be like, finally, I get it.

Waiver, waiver, all right?

I love alliteration.

I was looking for that other waiver, and I found the waiver with an eye.

I was like, that's it.

That's it.

This is what the wicked do.

There's a contrast between the righteous and the wicked all throughout Scripture.

The wicked, they give up.

They relinquish their legal rights, their claims, and their privileges they have in Christ Jesus.

Jesus is our advocate.

Don't give that up.

1 John 2, verse 1.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.

But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

And not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Galatians 3 verse 23, before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law.

We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith.

You need to understand the language of the Bible.

There are legal rights.

There is protection.

There's things that he put in place.

And let me tell you, the devil is a legalist.

He will look for any legal right he has to your life.

Walk in the authority and privilege that Jesus has given you.

Do not give that up.

Do not run from that.

Let me put it another way, it says in verse 24 of Galatians 3.

The law was our guardian until Christ came.

It protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.

And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ like putting on new clothes.

There's no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham.

You are his heirs and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Legally, through Christ Jesus, the promise of Abraham now belongs to you.

The devil does not want you to have that.

He is doing everything he can to get you to flee, to give up your legal rights.

But the righteous are persistent.

And even when they fall 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 times, 7 times 70, doesn't matter.

They get back up again.

Did you fall?

Did you fall this week?

Get back up again.

It's okay.

He's still your advocate.

He still loves you.

Get back up again.

Proverbs 28, verse 1, the wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Number three, the righteous are bold.

That word in the Hebrew, the word picture, every letter in the Hebrew alphabet was like a little picture in the ancient Hebrew.

And so it looked like a house that was surrounded by a wall.

That's the word for bold.

You're surrounded by a wall.

That word means trust, secure.

Your boldness isn't this brash.

Sometimes we think of boldness as like kind of this brashness and, you know, maybe this kind of loud mouth that gets up and just says all this stuff.

And it's like, no, no, no.

Your boldness is trust.

I just trust in the Lord.

You're safe and secure in his presence.

That's what it means to be bold in his word.

The righteous are bold.

They're confident.

They're secure.

They trust in him.

They know who surrounds them.

Zechariah 2 verse 5, and I myself will be a wall of fire around it, declares the Lord, and I will be its glory within.

He's a wall of fire around you.

The enemy cannot get you.

The enemy cannot touch you.

The enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy, but he does not have access to you as long as you what?

Stay within the wall.

Where does he get access to your life?

When you flee outside of the wall.

When you run from him.

When you flee, guess what?

You're easy to get.

You're easy prey.

But if you would stay within the wall, within his hedge of protection, within the wall of fire, don't give up your legal rights.

There's protection.

There's provision.

There's prosperity inside the wall.

He loves you.

He's for you, not against you, Romans.

Psalm 125, verse 1 and 2, those who trust in the Lord, that word trust, it's that same Hebrew word.

It's used interchangeably for boldness and trust.

There's a connection between boldness and trust.

The righteous are bold as a lion.

The righteous are trusting.

They trust in the Lord.

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

In Hebrews, it talks about we're unshakable.

You cannot be shaken.

If you stay in Christ, you are unshakable.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

He surrounds you.

He's a wall of fire.

He's a hedge of protection.

He's a wall.

Be bold.

Stand strong.

Come on.

Four, the wicked flee.

Proverbs 28.1, the wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

When no one pursues, no one's even chasing you, but you're running.

Why?

What are you running from?

Fear.

You're running from fear.

That is not the Holy Spirit.

I've heard too many people tell me in these past few months, well, you fill in the blank

But as I'm sitting there listening to them and I'm listening to them talk about why they're running and what they're doing and where they're going, I'm like, I just keep challenging them.

I keep telling them, that's not the Holy Spirit.

You're afraid.

God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and of a sound mind.

And I just keep hearing people tell me these things.

Well, what if this happens?

Or this could happen?

Or what if?

If you're playing the what if game, that's hypothetical.

And guess what?

That's fear.

Maybe you didn't realize it, but that's fear.

But what if, what if, what if?

That's fear.

That's not the Holy Spirit.

And these people keep telling me, no, no, no, I'm just wise.

I'm just discerning.

No, you're fearful.

You have to learn how to discern the spirits.

Let me tell you something.

God has been testing people.

Sometimes you're being tested and you didn't even know it, right?

When Gideon brought his army down to the water, the Lord had a test.

Those guys, they didn't even know it.

300 of them passed the test.

The others didn't.

Sometimes you're being tested.

How do you pass the test?

Follow his word.

Learn how to discern and test the spirits.

One of the most simple tests is fear.

Is this the Spirit of God or is this a spirit of fear?

They are not the same thing.

The spirit of fear masquerades as the Holy Spirit, as wisdom, as discernment.

The spirit of fear whispers to you and says, oh, no, no, this is the wise thing to do.

This is smart.

You know, you just, you got to get out and run while you can from this relationship or this friendship.

Wait a second, who told you to run?

Because the Bible tells me the wicked run, the wicked flee, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

They wait.

They trust.

They walk with the Lord.

They don't run.

All throughout Scripture, the only time you see the righteous flee, the righteous run, look with me here.

In Genesis, when Joseph was being pursued by Potiphar's wife, he what?

Then he fled.

Sexual immorality.

Sexual immorality.

That's the first one.

If you're doing sub points in your notes, there you go.

That's the first one.

When do the righteous flee?

When faced with sexual immorality, sexual temptation.

1 Corinthians 6 verse 18.

Flee from sexual immorality.

When do the righteous run?

When do they flee?

When the devil tries to tempt them.

The devil tries to tempt you on your phone.

The devil tries to tempt you with a text from somebody that you know that you should not be hanging out with.

When the devil tries to tempt you with that coworker, and it's like, no, no, no, you need to run.

You need to flee and go back home to your wife.

You need to run.

You need to flee from that conversation and go back home to your husband.

That's when the righteous flees.

Otherwise, the righteous are as bold as a lion, and they stand strong.

Flee from sexual immorality.

All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually sins against their own body.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God?

You are not your own.

You are bought at a price.

Therefore, honor God with your bodies.

Second one that they flee from, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 14.

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

Sexual morality, idolatry.

You can flee.

You can run then.

Go ahead.

Last one, 1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 11.

But those who desire to be rich fall to temptation into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils.

It is through that craving that some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.

Flee from the love of money.

Sexual immorality, idolatry, and the love of money.

Money in itself is a tool.

If you can walk with the Lord, if you are walking with him, guess what?

Money itself is not evil.

It is a tool.

And for the righteous man or woman of God, it is used for the good of God's kingdom.

That's why we tithe.

It frees us from the love of money.

When we give God that first hand and we trust him because the righteous are bold, they are trusting, right?

You are growing in your trust when you tithe.

You're growing in your boldness.

That's why we tithe.

The righteous are bold.

The righteous are trusting to God the Father.

And the righteous flee from sexual immorality, idolatry, and the love of money.

Five.

The righteous wait.

Isaiah 40 verse 31.

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary.

They shall walk and not faint.

Those who wait on the Lord.

That's it.

Wait on him.

It's easy to run.

Sometimes it's a little more difficult to wait.

When things aren't going the way we want, we want to run on to the next thing.

In your marriage, when things aren't going the way you thought they would, when it doesn't look the way it looked on day one, on your wedding day or on the honeymoon, and you're a little just, this is terrible.

I don't like this.

This is harder than I thought it was going to be.

I thought it was going to be a honeymoon 24-7.

It's like, oh, there's some hard days here.

The wicked flee, not the righteous.

The righteous are as bold as a lion.

You stand strong and you fight for covenant.

You fight for the covenant that you stepped into.

Come on.

This is a tough one.

This is a tough one today.

I can feel it.

I just did a wedding on Friday night and it was good.

It was holy.

Those two are chasing after the Lord.

But I told them exactly this.

When the devil comes, do not run.

Do not flee.

Stand strong.

You fight for covenant.

Covenant is worth fighting for.

Your marriage is worth fighting for.

Fight for it.

The righteous wait.

They don't run away.

Unless it's temptation, idolatry, or the love of money, they do not run.

Some of you, you keep feeling like, oh, I need to run.

I need to go.

I need to go.

I need to go.

Who told you that?

Who told you to leave?

Who told you to run?

That's the spirit of fear.

The Holy Spirit says fight for it.

Wait on the Lord.

It's hard to wait when it feels like the devil is coming after you day after day after day.

But let me tell you something.

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary.

They shall walk and not faint.

That's God's word.

Stand on it today.

Worship team, you can come up as we get ready to close.

Psalm 46, verse 10.

Be still and know that I am God.

Some of you, you're so used to running and being busy and moving, and you're just like, well, things aren't working out the way I thought they would, and it doesn't look the way I think it should, and I just, I got to make my own way, I got to make my own luck, and I got to make, no, no, no, just for one second, just be still.

Be still and know that He is God, and you don't have to be God.

Because the righteous are bold.

They are trusting in the Lord.

And they trust that he's going to work it all out for the good of those who love him.

So even though it's a little chaotic right now, even though it's a little sad or it's a little hard, it's a little difficult, it's a little more challenging than you were expecting, than you were wanting, than you were desiring.

Remember this today, the righteous are as bold as lions.

They stand strong and they wait on the Lord.

Be still and know that He is God.

I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Know who he is.

Just one last passage I want to share with you.

Isaiah 49.

Listen to me, all you in distant lands, pay attention.

You who are far away, the Lord called me before my birth.

From within the womb, he called me by name.

You're called.

He called you before you were even born.

In the womb, he called you by name.

He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword.

He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.

I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.

He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.

I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.

He said to me, you are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.

I replied, but my work seems so useless.

I've spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose, yet I leave it all in the Lord's hand.

I will trust God for my reward.

I'll trust God for my reward.

And now the Lord speaks, the one who formed me in my mother's womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.

The Lord has honored me and my God has given me strength.

He says, you will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.

I will make you a light to the Gentiles and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.

The Lord, the Redeemer, and Holy One of Israel says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers, kings will stand at attention when you pass by.

Princes will also bow low because of the Lord, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.

You're called, you're chosen.

Even when it feels like you're hidden, trust in him.

Trust in him.

He's good.

God, let's pray.

God, we love you and we praise you.

Lord, just for any place where we fell this week, God, we just repent.

We just acknowledge.

God, we sinned against you.

We broke covenant.

But God, we know that you've called us to get back up again.

And so Lord, I just pray that we would be persistent, that we would continue to rise, that we would continue to get back up again.

God, I just pray for strength.

I pray for boldness.

I pray for trust to grow within us, that we would just keep chasing you.

God, any place where we've dishonored you, where we've hurt your heart, Lord, I just pray that we would repent and turn back to you today.

any place where we've scoffed at you, where we've rejected you, God, any place that we've ignored you, ignored your word, God, I pray that we would repent and turn back to you today.

God, I pray that you would raise us up, that you'd bring healing, restoration,

We know your word says if we confess our sins, you're faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I just pray for a cleansing today.

I pray that you would cleanse us and make us white as snow.

Jesus, we love you.

In your name we pray.

Amen.