# Death By Echo (Run It Back)

An episode of [Elevation with Steven Furtick](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/216015753), 17 Aug 2026, 58 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/cbb40a38-726f-4243-a86e-b0ed01477640/8c843fae-d462-42a3-886b-b4a8016ca3e2/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ff9164b2-aa64-410d-9ee1-b0ed0147765c

What’s been on your mind? Sometimes the loudest voice in your life is the one in your own head. In this sermon, Pastor Steven teaches from Elijah’s story in 1 Kings 19 and shows us what to do when fear, exhaustion, and discouragement get loud. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfr Chapters 0:00 - Thanks for joining us 1:50 - Join Us On Tour! 3:45 - 1 Kings 19 11:26 - “How’d You Feel About It?” 14:45 - What Are You Replaying? 17:46 - Tormented By A Lie 21:26 - I’m Both 25:24 - What You Really Say To God 28:24 - That’s Not Really A Prayer 32:55 - Pressure Can Cause You To Run 35:03 - Replaying The Wrong Thing 38:06 - Run It Back 40:02 - What’s Really Killing Your Faith 43:16 - God Came Anyway 46:16 - What’s Echoing In Your Cave 48:57 - Come Out Of The Cave 51:01 - This Cave Won’t Be My Grave 54:53 - For Those Caught In The Echo Scripture References: 1 Kings 19, verses 1-19 - Elijah ran and hid in a cave, God came in a whisper James 5, verses 17-18 – The faith of Elijah to pray about the rain Philippians 4, verses 6-7 – Present requests to God with thanksgiving 1 Kings 18 – Elijah defeats the prophets of Baal with fire 1 Corinthians 15, verses 54-55 – Death swallowed up in victory Exodus 33, verses 21-22 – Moses hidden in the cleft of the rock 1 Kings 17, verses 1-6 – Ravens fed Elijah by the brook Cherith Lamentations 3, verses 22-23 – God's mercies are new every morning 1 Kings 17, verses 17-24 – Elijah revives a widow's dead son Ezekiel 37 – Dry bones brought back to life Judges 6, verse 15 – Gideon calls himself the weakest Exodus 4, verse 10 – Moses says he is not eloquent Matthew 27, verses 57-60 – Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus's body See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
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[1:08] Speaker 1: Nate you'll be there, Otis you'll be there. Nick, you'll
[1:12] Speaker 1: be there. It's going to be amazing. Go and check
[1:15] Speaker 1: that out. An incredible night of worship. Josh, you're going
[1:19] Speaker 1: It's going to be an amazing time of worship. And
[1:21] Speaker 1: you can get all of the details somewhere. I thought
[1:26] Speaker 1: there was a website up there, but there's not. Just
[1:28] Speaker 1: type all of that into Chad GPT and follow the
[1:32] Speaker 1: directions and buy the ticket and we'll see you there. Also,
[1:35] Speaker 1: Elevation Nights is coming up. Let's thank God for Elevation Nights. Now.
[1:38] Speaker 1: I will be there. They gotta get the dates out. Yeah,
[1:45] Speaker 1: October ninth through October eighteenth, and you can go to
[1:49] Speaker 1: Elevation Nights dot com. Kansas City, Missouri, Memphis, Tennessee, Birmingham, Alabama,
[1:56] Speaker 1: San Antonio, Texas, Lubbock, Texas, Texas, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Houston, Texas.
[2:08] Speaker 1: Come on shout like you're from Texas. Today. The Lord
[2:17] Speaker 1: has been speaking to us through this series. Would you
[2:20] Speaker 1: not agree? I Know That Voice? And today I want
[2:24] Speaker 1: to share with you another installment in this series. I
[2:27] Speaker 1: went home and told Holly that was my last sermon
[2:29] Speaker 1: in that I Know That Voice series, And the Lord said,
[2:32] Speaker 1: are you sure? Because it would be impossible for me
[2:36] Speaker 1: to do a series called I Know That Voice and
[2:38] Speaker 1: not stop by this passage of scripture. In One Kings nineteen,
[2:43] Speaker 1: the scripture has brought me, I minse comfort in times
[2:45] Speaker 1: of my life where I felt heavy. It's brought me
[2:50] Speaker 1: clarity when I felt crazy, it brought me endurance when
[2:56] Speaker 1: I felt weary. And I want to share it to
[2:59] Speaker 1: you today, with you today as a personal word, and
[3:04] Speaker 1: I'm going to preach it just like the Lord gave
[3:06] Speaker 1: it to me. I actually packed two folders when I
[3:08] Speaker 1: left the house today. One was the safe sermon and
[3:13] Speaker 1: then one was the sermon where I really need the
[3:15] Speaker 1: Holy Spirit to help me get it right. And I'm
[3:17] Speaker 1: going to preach the second one because I believe I'll
[3:25] Speaker 1: hear from you a few weeks or months from now
[3:28] Speaker 1: about what God speaks today. So tune your heart and
[3:34] Speaker 1: turn over to First Kings nineteen. I'm going to read
[3:38] Speaker 1: a little bit longer scripture than I normally would, but
[3:42] Speaker 1: it's worth it. One Kings, chapter nineteen, Verse one. Now
[3:53] Speaker 1: Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he
[3:57] Speaker 1: had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel
[4:01] Speaker 1: sent a messenger to Elijah to say, may the Gods
[4:04] Speaker 1: deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by
[4:07] Speaker 1: this time tomorrow I do not make your life like
[4:10] Speaker 1: that of one of them. Elijah was afraid, ran for
[4:15] Speaker 1: his life. When he came to Beersheba and Judah, he
[4:19] Speaker 1: left his servant there while he himself went a day's
[4:21] Speaker 1: journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush,
[4:25] Speaker 1: sat down under it, and prayed that he might die.
[4:29] Speaker 1: I've had enough, Lord, he said, take my life. I
[4:31] Speaker 1: am no better than my ancestors. Then he lay down
[4:34] Speaker 1: under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an
[4:38] Speaker 1: angel touched him and said, get up and eat. Man.
[4:43] Speaker 1: I think I might want to make that my life
[4:45] Speaker 1: verse right there. I want the Lord to tell me
[4:49] Speaker 1: that get up and eat ice cream and pizza, yeah, tacos, burritos,
[4:57] Speaker 1: And I want them to cancel ot the calories too.
[4:59] Speaker 1: Because he God, he can do anything. Wouldn't be cool
[5:02] Speaker 1: if God just touched you and said eating and touched
[5:04] Speaker 1: the food and made it good for you. Come on,
[5:06] Speaker 1: if God just gave the briars the nutritional value of broccoli.
[5:09] Speaker 1: God can do stuff like that. But I am amazed
[5:13] Speaker 1: how Elijah was running away from God and God fed
[5:17] Speaker 1: him anyway. Because hadn't there been seasons in your life
[5:22] Speaker 1: where you knew you were doing the wrong thing? Come
[5:25] Speaker 1: over to this side. Haven't decides about to get struck
[5:29] Speaker 1: by lightning, and it's not even raining outside. For lyon,
[5:32] Speaker 1: Haven't there been seasons in your life where you knew
[5:35] Speaker 1: you were off track, but God kept providing for you anyway,
[5:39] Speaker 1: and kept making waste for you. And how many have
[5:42] Speaker 1: one of those anyway testimonies? Yeah, even when I went
[5:46] Speaker 1: the wrong way, he fed me anyway, He kept me anyway,
[5:51] Speaker 1: He blessed me anyway, He brought me anyway. So he
[5:55] Speaker 1: ate and drank and then laid down again. Now verse success.
[6:00] Speaker 1: There were by his head some bread baked over hot
[6:02] Speaker 1: coals in a jar of water, and he ate and
[6:04] Speaker 1: drank and then laid down again. The Angel of the
[6:06] Speaker 1: Lord came back a second time and touched him and said,
[6:08] Speaker 1: get up and eat, for the journey is too much
[6:10] Speaker 1: for you. So he got up and ate and drank.
[6:14] Speaker 1: Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty
[6:17] Speaker 1: nights until he reached Horeb, the Mountain of God. There
[6:22] Speaker 1: he went into a cave and spent the night, and
[6:27] Speaker 1: the word of the Lord came to him. What are
[6:33] Speaker 1: you doing here, Elijah? He replied, I have been very
[6:40] Speaker 1: zealous for the Lord God Almighty the Israelites have rejected
[6:44] Speaker 1: your covenant. They've torn down your altars, and they have
[6:47] Speaker 1: put your prophets to death with the sword. I am
[6:50] Speaker 1: the only one left, and now they are trying to
[6:53] Speaker 1: kill me. To the Lord said, go out and stand
[6:57] Speaker 1: on the mountain in the presence of the life, for
[7:00] Speaker 1: the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great
[7:03] Speaker 1: and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks.
[7:08] Speaker 1: God sent a wind to get Elijah back, but the
[7:11] Speaker 1: Lord was not in the wind. He sent the wind,
[7:14] Speaker 1: but he was not in the wind. After the wind,
[7:17] Speaker 1: there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in
[7:20] Speaker 1: the earthquake. And after the earthquake came a fire, but
[7:24] Speaker 1: the Lord was not in the fire. And after the
[7:27] Speaker 1: fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he
[7:33] Speaker 1: pulled his cloak over his face and went out and
[7:37] Speaker 1: stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice
[7:42] Speaker 1: said to him, what are you doing here, Elijah? He replied,
[7:50] Speaker 1: I have been very zealous for the Lord, God Almighty.
[7:54] Speaker 1: The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars,
[7:58] Speaker 1: and put your prophets to death with the sword. I
[8:02] Speaker 1: am the only one left and now they are trying
[8:06] Speaker 1: to kill me. Two. The Lord said to him, go
[8:11] Speaker 1: back the way you came, and go to the desert
[8:14] Speaker 1: of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazel king over Aram.
[8:19] Speaker 1: Also annoyed Jayhu's son of Nimshi, king over Israel, and
[8:22] Speaker 1: anoint Elisha, son of Shaefat from Abel Mahola, to succeed
[8:28] Speaker 1: you as prophet. Jayhu will put to death any who
[8:31] Speaker 1: escaped the sword of Hazel, and Elishah will put to
[8:35] Speaker 1: death any who escaped the sword of Jehu. Yet I
[8:40] Speaker 1: reserve seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not
[8:45] Speaker 1: bowed down to bail, and whose mouths have not kissed
[8:49] Speaker 1: him last verse. So Elijah went from there and found
[8:54] Speaker 1: Elisha's son of sae Fat. He was plowing with twelve
[8:58] Speaker 1: yokov oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth peer.
[9:03] Speaker 1: Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
[9:10] Speaker 1: Thus a new beginning. This is the word of the Lord.
[9:13] Speaker 1: I have a strange subject today, but I want to
[9:15] Speaker 1: talk to you for a few moments about a very
[9:18] Speaker 1: particular way that the enemy wants to steal, kill and
[9:21] Speaker 1: destroy in your life. I want to talk to you
[9:22] Speaker 1: about death by echo, echo, death by echo, and don't worry.
[9:32] Speaker 1: This sermon has a happy ending. Father. I thank you
[9:35] Speaker 1: in the name of Jesus for what you spoke to me.
[9:39] Speaker 1: Now speak it to them. May it echo across this
[9:43] Speaker 1: place in Jesus's name, I pray, and everybody said together, Amen,
[9:48] Speaker 1: clap your hands. If you love the Lord and receive
[9:50] Speaker 1: his word today, you may deceived.
[9:57] Speaker 2: Now, Elijah, in this passage that I just read, you
[10:06] Speaker 2: may come across to you as somebody who is emotionally imbalanced,
[10:10] Speaker 2: and perhaps he is.
[10:12] Speaker 1: He may come across to you as somebody who is ungrateful,
[10:16] Speaker 1: and perhaps temporarily his view of what God has done
[10:20] Speaker 1: has been blocked by what he's going through. But I
[10:23] Speaker 1: think that's a good thing. One of the things that
[10:26] Speaker 1: people ask me often after I preach, and it's honestly
[10:29] Speaker 1: my favorite thing to uh, well, it's my least favorite
[10:34] Speaker 1: thing to be asked, but it's my favorite thing to answer, okay,
[10:37] Speaker 1: because here's what they'll last. Sometimes they'll go, I'll preach,
[10:40] Speaker 1: you know, you pour your heart out, you preach it
[10:42] Speaker 1: a go, hey, so how'd you feel about that? And
[10:47] Speaker 1: it's kind of awkward because when they ask it. It
[10:51] Speaker 1: kind of feels like maybe I should feel different about
[10:54] Speaker 1: it than how I do feel because I felt like
[10:57] Speaker 1: it was all right until you asked me how did
[11:00] Speaker 1: I feel about it? It's kind of like have you
[11:03] Speaker 1: ever gone out the house and then you came back
[11:05] Speaker 1: home and your wife saw you for the first time
[11:06] Speaker 1: and she's like, is that what you wore today? And
[11:09] Speaker 1: it's like, well, yeah, but this is too late to
[11:11] Speaker 1: do anything about it. This is it, This is what
[11:13] Speaker 1: I wore. What I preached is what I preached. How
[11:15] Speaker 1: I feel is how I feel. How do I feel
[11:16] Speaker 1: about it? I don't know how should I feel about it?
[11:18] Speaker 1: How did you feel about it? Did you feel like
[11:19] Speaker 1: it blessed you? That? It's just an awkward question to ask,
[11:22] Speaker 1: And besides it being an awkward question to answer is
[11:26] Speaker 1: complicated because if I really answered you, the truth is
[11:31] Speaker 1: that I always feel like, watch this, I failed at
[11:35] Speaker 1: some level because I'm trying to speak for God, who
[11:39] Speaker 1: is perfect, and I'm me, who is not. So how
[11:43] Speaker 1: did I feel like I fell short of my goal?
[11:46] Speaker 1: And you are always going to feel that way when
[11:48] Speaker 1: you're speaking for God, unless you're a narcissist. And so
[11:53] Speaker 1: the truth of the matter is when someone is asking me,
[11:57] Speaker 1: how did you feel about that, I'm already re playing
[12:00] Speaker 1: the message in my brain the way that I meant
[12:04] Speaker 1: to say it, and you don't know how I meant
[12:06] Speaker 1: to say it. You only know how I said it.
[12:08] Speaker 1: So perhaps you thought that I hit the mark, but
[12:11] Speaker 1: in my mind it was a mess. Last week was
[12:14] Speaker 1: one of those weeks I preached my whole sermon called
[12:17] Speaker 1: what If I Got It Wrong? The message was about
[12:21] Speaker 1: how the enemy can beat you up with regret and
[12:25] Speaker 1: just cause you to doubt everything down to the core
[12:28] Speaker 1: of your faith in Christ. And I meant to say
[12:31] Speaker 1: before I left the stage that the better question isn't
[12:34] Speaker 1: what if I got it wrong, but what if God
[12:38] Speaker 1: got it right? And somehow, no matter how many times
[12:43] Speaker 1: I wrote that down in my notes, when I finished
[12:46] Speaker 1: my message, I left the stage and did not say
[12:48] Speaker 1: that part. And to me, that was not the cherry
[12:52] Speaker 1: on top of the sunday. That was the Sunday, that
[12:56] Speaker 1: was the ice cream, that was the dish. That was
[12:59] Speaker 1: the whole thing that I wanted you to hear, But
[13:02] Speaker 1: somehow I forgot to say it. So I went home
[13:04] Speaker 1: and Holly was in tears, and she was like, that
[13:07] Speaker 1: was amazing. That really touched me. And I was like, no,
[13:09] Speaker 1: it's terrible, and she's like, what do you mean? It
[13:10] Speaker 1: was terrible? It touched me? And how was it touching
[13:13] Speaker 1: to her? And terrible to me? Because I'm replaying the
[13:18] Speaker 1: part I didn't say in my mind, and the part
[13:22] Speaker 1: that you replay has a lot to do with what
[13:26] Speaker 1: you feel. Have you ever replayed the wrong thing in
[13:29] Speaker 1: your mind over and over again? Have you ever said
[13:33] Speaker 1: something so dumb and then went back and thought about
[13:37] Speaker 1: it for days and days and days, like why did
[13:41] Speaker 1: I say that to them? Really? Like I really said
[13:43] Speaker 1: that to them. I don't know if you're trying to
[13:44] Speaker 1: pick up a girl. I don't know, if you're trying
[13:46] Speaker 1: to do a business deal. I don't know if you're
[13:47] Speaker 1: just introducing yourself to someone. And then you walk away
[13:50] Speaker 1: and you're like why did I say that? And then
[13:52] Speaker 1: you get the chance to see them again and apologize,
[13:55] Speaker 1: and you've worked up your entire apology speech for what
[13:59] Speaker 1: you said, and you go to say, I'm sorry that
[14:01] Speaker 1: I said that. I can't believe I said that to you,
[14:04] Speaker 1: And then I say, I don't remember that. Really, I
[14:10] Speaker 1: have been tormenting myself over something that wasn't even important
[14:14] Speaker 1: enough for you to put in your files. You mean
[14:18] Speaker 1: I just said that and beat myself up, and you
[14:21] Speaker 1: completely forgot about it. I remember when Christmas, I was
[14:26] Speaker 1: taking out the trash and it had all these packing
[14:29] Speaker 1: peanuts in it, and the trash can was full of
[14:32] Speaker 1: packing peanuts and the wind was blowing. Well, I think
[14:34] Speaker 1: you know where this is going. I pulled the trash
[14:38] Speaker 1: can out to the street and the wind blows the
[14:40] Speaker 1: packing peanuts every which way. Now, remember, I've just preached
[14:44] Speaker 1: like fifty Christmas services, however many we did at the time,
[14:48] Speaker 1: I think it was more like twelve that I preached live,
[14:50] Speaker 1: and we had fifty across all of our locations. But
[14:53] Speaker 1: I was tired, and Graham was sitting in the car
[14:57] Speaker 1: and I was dragging out the trash. But I forgot
[14:59] Speaker 1: temper rarely that Graham was sitting in the car. And
[15:01] Speaker 1: I also forgot temporarily that I was saved. And I
[15:04] Speaker 1: forgot temporarily that there are certain words that you shouldn't
[15:06] Speaker 1: say when you're saved and your kid is sitting in
[15:09] Speaker 1: the car, And I just started letting stuff fly, and
[15:11] Speaker 1: it was flying faster than the packing peanuts and it's
[15:14] Speaker 1: all flying around the yard and I just preached Christmas
[15:17] Speaker 1: and it's Jesus' birthday has just finished, and here I
[15:20] Speaker 1: am cussing it in him and objects all around the yard.
[15:23] Speaker 1: And I got in the car. My biggest thought was like,
[15:26] Speaker 1: what am I going to tell my kid? And I
[15:28] Speaker 1: start the spiral because I'm like, I know where this ends.
[15:31] Speaker 1: This ends with he's in therapy, This ends with he's
[15:33] Speaker 1: a drug addict. It all goes he's sitting on somebody's
[15:36] Speaker 1: couch at some point in the future saying there was
[15:38] Speaker 1: this one Christmas and my dad preached and he took
[15:43] Speaker 1: out the trash, and my dad is trash and that's
[15:46] Speaker 1: the reason I'm here today. But you know, after ten
[15:49] Speaker 1: minutes of driving and figuring out what I wanted to
[15:52] Speaker 1: say to him, I said, I'm sorry about that. He
[15:55] Speaker 1: said sorry about what I said, Sorry about what I
[15:58] Speaker 1: said While I was out there, He said, I didn't
[16:02] Speaker 1: hear what you said. I said, that's right, that's right.
[16:11] Speaker 1: And here I am tormented about something that he didn't
[16:15] Speaker 1: even hear. Did know that the enemy can torment you
[16:21] Speaker 1: with something that isn't even true. He can make you
[16:25] Speaker 1: play out scenarios in your mind. I'm telling you the
[16:28] Speaker 1: enemy is very strategic, because if you read First King's
[16:32] Speaker 1: nineteen and you know a little bit about who Elijah is,
[16:36] Speaker 1: you are surprised to see him running because he got
[16:39] Speaker 1: a death threat from Jezebel. And when he says, Lord
[16:44] Speaker 1: take my life, I'm no better than my ancestors, because Jezebel,
[16:49] Speaker 1: who was the queen, said I'm going to kill you.
[16:54] Speaker 1: In fact, in verse two, she says, this exactly made
[16:58] Speaker 1: the gods deal with me. Be it ever so severely,
[17:01] Speaker 1: if by this time tomorrow, I do not make your
[17:03] Speaker 1: life like that of one of them. Elijah has just
[17:07] Speaker 1: won a great victory on Mount Carmel. He has just prophesied,
[17:11] Speaker 1: and the heavens gave rain. And no sooner does the
[17:15] Speaker 1: rain come than the news of his victory reaches the
[17:18] Speaker 1: ears of Ahab. And no sooner does it reach the
[17:21] Speaker 1: ears of Ahab until he tells Jezebel Jezebel was really
[17:25] Speaker 1: running the kingdom. Jezebel was really moving Ahab like a puppet.
[17:29] Speaker 1: One preacher said, the last decision Ahab ever made was
[17:32] Speaker 1: I do And I've seen some marriages like that. I've
[17:35] Speaker 1: seen some marriages like that. So Jezebel says, let me
[17:38] Speaker 1: handle him. Made the gods deal with me, be it
[17:41] Speaker 1: ever so severely if I don't kill this guy who
[17:45] Speaker 1: killed my prophets. When Elijah called down fire from God
[17:49] Speaker 1: and had the four hundred and fifty prophets of Bale
[17:51] Speaker 1: slaughtered and the four hundred prophets of Asherah slaughtered on
[17:55] Speaker 1: the mountain, and said, if the Lord is God, follow him?
[17:58] Speaker 1: How long we ye halt between two opinions? If the
[18:01] Speaker 1: Lord is God, how long are you going to go
[18:04] Speaker 1: back and forth? And fire came from heaven and licked
[18:07] Speaker 1: up what remaining water there was after three years of
[18:09] Speaker 1: drought in the trenches, and God proved his presence by fire.
[18:13] Speaker 1: Elijah went up on a mountain, put his head between
[18:16] Speaker 1: his knees, sent his servant to check seven times, said
[18:19] Speaker 1: I hear the sound of the abundance of rain. I
[18:22] Speaker 1: can't prove it, but I hear it. I can't point
[18:24] Speaker 1: to it, but I know it. I can't show it
[18:27] Speaker 1: to you, but God is showing it to me. Tell Ahab,
[18:30] Speaker 1: hitch up your chariots before the rain stop you. And
[18:32] Speaker 1: Elijah outran Ahab all the way back down the mountain.
[18:36] Speaker 1: No sooner can he get down the mountain and the
[18:39] Speaker 1: rain released from heaven and the revival begin in the
[18:43] Speaker 1: religious climate of Israel. No sooner can he get down
[18:46] Speaker 1: the mountain. No sooner can he celebrate the victory. No
[18:50] Speaker 1: sooner can he move forward into the next assignment that
[18:53] Speaker 1: God has Until he receives a threat from Jezebel. And
[19:00] Speaker 1: we know that her threat is empty. May the gods
[19:08] Speaker 1: deal with me? What God's Jezebel? Somebody say, what gods?
[19:15] Speaker 1: You mean? The same ones who you called on on
[19:19] Speaker 1: the mountain when God sent fire? I feel that word
[19:23] Speaker 1: for Somebody say, what God's You know how the enemy
[19:26] Speaker 1: tries to threaten you and intimidate you? What Gods? There's
[19:29] Speaker 1: only one God? So her threat is empty because if
[19:34] Speaker 1: she could have, she would have. Because if eight hundred
[19:39] Speaker 1: and fifty false prophets didn't stop him, what is one
[19:43] Speaker 1: person going to do? What gods? Somebody say, what God's
[19:48] Speaker 1: Where old death is now thy thing? Where old grave
[19:52] Speaker 1: is your victory? Death has been swallowed up in victory?
[19:55] Speaker 1: What God's? Her threat is empty? Her threat is empty,
[20:01] Speaker 1: But so is Elijah. He's empty, And he says, I've
[20:06] Speaker 1: had enough for her. Threat is empty, but so is he. Now.
[20:13] Speaker 1: When people ask you how do you feel after you minister,
[20:17] Speaker 1: the truth is you're thankful, but you're all so empty.
[20:22] Speaker 1: You're also tired. Any new parents in the room, may
[20:28] Speaker 1: I talk to you for a moment? How do you
[20:30] Speaker 1: feel as a new parent? You gotta answer that very
[20:36] Speaker 1: carefully because you're so thankful right right? Oh, so too
[20:43] Speaker 1: late now no refunds, no instruction manual either, and no
[20:51] Speaker 1: sleep schedule. So you say, I'm thankful, but I'm exhausted. Now.
[20:59] Speaker 1: I like to make up word to explain to people
[21:01] Speaker 1: how I feel. When people ask me how I feel
[21:03] Speaker 1: before I preach, I say I'm anxious and I'm excited.
[21:06] Speaker 1: I'm a excited. I made that up myself. I'm excited.
[21:10] Speaker 1: You ever felt anxcited about something? So I made up
[21:13] Speaker 1: a new word to describe how you feel when God
[21:16] Speaker 1: uses you. It goes like this, I'm exhausted use that
[21:22] Speaker 1: this week? How you doing? You're so blessed You've got
[21:26] Speaker 1: this new job. I'm thankful, but I'm exhausted. I'm gonna
[21:32] Speaker 1: keep preaching till I find somebody who will be real
[21:34] Speaker 1: with me. I am grateful, but I'm kind of grumpy too.
[21:39] Speaker 1: And I'm kind of grumpy because I haven't gotten quite
[21:42] Speaker 1: as much sleep as I used to get. I'm exhausted.
[21:46] Speaker 1: I came up on this mountain and God did a
[21:48] Speaker 1: great work, but I came back down, and no sooner
[21:52] Speaker 1: did I see the rain than I felt the resistance
[21:55] Speaker 1: come on. No sooner could I praise God for the
[21:59] Speaker 1: victory until another problem came along. And so I'm grateful
[22:04] Speaker 1: lifting one hand, but I'm having to fight with the
[22:07] Speaker 1: other one because God did something awesome with one of
[22:10] Speaker 1: my kids, but the other one is wearing me out.
[22:14] Speaker 1: Have you ever had winning and worn out happening at
[22:19] Speaker 1: the same time? Come on, how you feel? How do
[22:23] Speaker 1: you feel about the good things God is doing in
[22:25] Speaker 1: your life? How do you feel about being married? Any
[22:29] Speaker 1: newly weeds in the house? How do you feel about that? Oh,
[22:32] Speaker 1: it's amazing, it's amazing, and it's crazy. Because what's crazy
[22:38] Speaker 1: is I brought my crazy into the marriage, and they're crazy.
[22:42] Speaker 1: Was already filling up every room in the house. And
[22:45] Speaker 1: I'm happy to be with them. But the fact of
[22:48] Speaker 1: the matter is they already had so much baggage when
[22:51] Speaker 1: I came into the house. I can't find a place
[22:53] Speaker 1: to unpack mine. Now I got to ask somebody else,
[22:57] Speaker 1: what do you want to watch? Now? I've got to
[22:59] Speaker 1: orient my skin. And you can smile and you can
[23:02] Speaker 1: say you're blessed, and I know you are blessed, and
[23:05] Speaker 1: I'm blessed too. But blessing doesn't cancel pressure. So at
[23:10] Speaker 1: the same time I'm blessed, there's pressure coming up behind
[23:14] Speaker 1: the blessing. So I'm experiencing blessing and I'm experiencing pressure.
[23:20] Speaker 1: I call that blessure. I got a lot of blesser
[23:23] Speaker 1: in my life right now. Come on, bear with me,
[23:26] Speaker 1: be patient with me. I got blessure in mine. I'm
[23:29] Speaker 1: not asking God to take the responsibilities away. It's not
[23:33] Speaker 1: that I'm not thankful. I'm just exhausted. I'm exhausted. How's
[23:37] Speaker 1: that for an honest testimony. I praise the Lord for
[23:40] Speaker 1: what he gave me, and I'm about to collapse because
[23:42] Speaker 1: he gave it to me. My prayer, my praise report
[23:46] Speaker 1: just turned into my prayer request. I couldn't get used
[23:50] Speaker 1: to the rain before I had a threat coming up
[23:52] Speaker 1: on my Okay, and he makes a statement, I get
[23:56] Speaker 1: ready for this because it's I want to teach you.
[23:58] Speaker 1: Verse three, he says, I have had e enough. Lord
[24:04] Speaker 1: say it. I've had enough. I've had enough. In other words,
[24:08] Speaker 1: I'm done with this. It is impossible to overstate the
[24:12] Speaker 1: severity of Elijah's psychological confusion. Bewilderment. I mean, we see
[24:22] Speaker 1: in James, let me show you this James five seventeen,
[24:27] Speaker 1: a summary of Elijah's faith that says Elijah was a
[24:31] Speaker 1: human being even as we are. He prayed earnestly that
[24:38] Speaker 1: it would not rain. That's when he walked into Ahab's court,
[24:42] Speaker 1: like a stab of lightning in the midnight eastern sky.
[24:45] Speaker 1: Elijah the tispike from Tishpee in Gilead and walked in
[24:48] Speaker 1: and said, no rain till I say so. And he prayed,
[24:52] Speaker 1: and God shut off the rain. He prayed and it
[24:54] Speaker 1: didn't rain for three and a half years. Again, he
[25:01] Speaker 1: and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
[25:05] Speaker 1: And then James moves on to talk about something else,
[25:09] Speaker 1: but go back to verse eighteen. It says he prayed again,
[25:14] Speaker 1: he prayed and it didn't rain. He prayed and it
[25:18] Speaker 1: did rain, But it does not mention this prayer in
[25:23] Speaker 1: verse four, Chapter nineteen where he came to a broombush,
[25:30] Speaker 1: sat down under it and prayed that he might die.
[25:35] Speaker 1: And James doesn't put that part in because it didn't
[25:38] Speaker 1: fit that particular illustration. But let's talk about the prayers
[25:43] Speaker 1: that you prayed that you can't pray in public, where
[25:50] Speaker 1: you're telling God, I can't do this anymore. That's essentially
[25:54] Speaker 1: what he's saying, right, I've had enough. Not remember this
[25:57] Speaker 1: has a happy ending. Elijah does die. Say it. Elijah
[26:03] Speaker 1: doesn't die. I just want to let the air out
[26:06] Speaker 1: of that real quick, because it feels very tense in here.
[26:08] Speaker 1: So Elijah doesn't die. Say it again, Elijah doesn't die.
[26:15] Speaker 1: Not only does he not die by the threat of Jezebel,
[26:18] Speaker 1: but he never dies. When it came time for Elijah
[26:23] Speaker 1: to be taken up to Heaven, the Lord sin a whirlwin.
[26:28] Speaker 1: So is it possible that the thing that you are
[26:32] Speaker 1: the most freaked out about is never even going to happen.
[26:38] Speaker 1: That's a good place for a praise right there. I'm
[26:42] Speaker 1: gonna just go ahead and tell you what to do.
[26:45] Speaker 1: Praise God because Elijah didn't die. He didn't die at
[26:50] Speaker 1: the hand of Jezebel. He didn't die from his own depression.
[26:54] Speaker 1: Elijah didn't die. In fact, my little sermon only has
[26:58] Speaker 1: three points today. You ready, One he didn't really pray.
[27:04] Speaker 1: Number two, God came anyway. Number three he didn't stay.
[27:11] Speaker 1: That's the whole sermon. If you need to meet somebody
[27:14] Speaker 1: for lunch, you're dismissed. But I came to tell you.
[27:17] Speaker 1: Number one he didn't really pray. Number two, God came anyway.
[27:24] Speaker 1: And number three he didn't stay. Write all of those
[27:28] Speaker 1: in the comments, please, I want to see it on YouTube.
[27:30] Speaker 1: Number one he didn't really pray. Number two, God came anyway,
[27:37] Speaker 1: and number three he didn't stay. This is the word
[27:42] Speaker 1: of the Lord today. That Elijah prayed that he would die.
[27:48] Speaker 1: That is not really a prayer. A real prayer is
[27:52] Speaker 1: when you tell God, stop the rain. A real prayer
[27:56] Speaker 1: is when you tell God, now make it rain. A
[28:00] Speaker 1: real prayer is not just you complaining. A real prayer
[28:05] Speaker 1: is when you move from complaint to supplication. A real
[28:11] Speaker 1: prayer is when you go from saying how it is
[28:14] Speaker 1: to asking God to make it different. Turn in your
[28:18] Speaker 1: Bible to Philippians, chapter four, Let me teach you the
[28:21] Speaker 1: word of God today. Children. Elijah knew how to pray,
[28:24] Speaker 1: but he hits something in his life where he forgot
[28:27] Speaker 1: to do what he knew how to do. When you
[28:30] Speaker 1: hit enough pressure in your life, when you hit enough
[28:33] Speaker 1: pain in your life, you forget to do the thing
[28:36] Speaker 1: that you knew how to do, and you stop doing
[28:39] Speaker 1: the thing that got you where you were, and you
[28:41] Speaker 1: stop praising God like you used to praise God. The
[28:45] Speaker 1: apostle Paul says in Philippians Chapter four, verse six, do
[28:48] Speaker 1: not be anxious about anything. But in every situation, Jezebel,
[28:53] Speaker 1: every situation, bankruptcy, every situation, addiction, every situation and pain
[29:00] Speaker 1: in your body, every situation something that you can't talk about,
[29:05] Speaker 1: every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
[29:11] Speaker 1: requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends
[29:14] Speaker 1: all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
[29:19] Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. But when Elijah got down from that mountain,
[29:23] Speaker 1: he dropped his guard because he was empty. And when
[29:27] Speaker 1: you are empty, you have to get intentional, because if
[29:30] Speaker 1: you don't fill that space, the enemy will Look what
[29:38] Speaker 1: he's said, Look what he said in the text. He said,
[29:41] Speaker 1: verse six, present your requests to God. Request. I thought
[29:47] Speaker 1: I was praying one time. And I don't know how
[29:50] Speaker 1: this works. Okay, I know the series is called I
[29:52] Speaker 1: know that voice. I don't know if the Lord spoke
[29:54] Speaker 1: this or just wisdom told me this. But after I
[29:58] Speaker 1: finished going through everything that I felt, it was as
[30:03] Speaker 1: if the Lord said, would you like to talk to
[30:05] Speaker 1: me about it now? But I thought I was, But
[30:11] Speaker 1: it was as if the Lord said to me, you
[30:13] Speaker 1: have been thinking for ten minutes, but you haven't made
[30:17] Speaker 1: a request yet. And Philippians for six says, in every situation,
[30:25] Speaker 1: by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
[30:32] Speaker 1: So I was just giving God reasons that I felt
[30:37] Speaker 1: the way I felt. I was just processing the regret.
[30:41] Speaker 1: And the Lord said, you have not truly prayed to me,
[30:45] Speaker 1: recognizing the power that I have to step in to
[30:48] Speaker 1: your situation until you come out of listing the reasons
[30:52] Speaker 1: that you feel like you feel and ask me to
[30:55] Speaker 1: do something about it. So have you made a request yet?
[31:01] Speaker 1: Because Elijah's only request was kill me. That's not really
[31:05] Speaker 1: a prayer, is it. That's an escape? And he runs
[31:13] Speaker 1: to a place called the Cave. Not just any cave,
[31:17] Speaker 1: this is the same cave, horror mountain of God, where
[31:21] Speaker 1: Moses had hidden the cleft of the rock for the
[31:24] Speaker 1: glory of the Lord to pass by. But the problem
[31:27] Speaker 1: I'm going to show you, this, I'm going to demonstrate now,
[31:32] Speaker 1: is that Moses went into this cave, and it took
[31:36] Speaker 1: him forty days in the wrong direction away from the
[31:43] Speaker 1: place where God had called him. So the cave that
[31:48] Speaker 1: Elijah went to was a forty day journey away, like
[31:52] Speaker 1: ninety miles away from the place that God had called
[31:56] Speaker 1: him to remember, God sent the rain, and he ran,
[32:03] Speaker 1: so God answered the thing that he prayed for, and
[32:06] Speaker 1: he ran and stopped praying. This is what pressure will
[32:10] Speaker 1: do to you. Pressure will let God send the blessing
[32:15] Speaker 1: into your life, but cause you to run from the
[32:19] Speaker 1: thing that God sent you, so that now you find
[32:23] Speaker 1: yourself pushing away relationships that you asked God to send you.
[32:28] Speaker 1: You're running from the wrong thing. You are running from
[32:33] Speaker 1: the wrong thing when you are empt when you are empty,
[32:36] Speaker 1: like Elijah was empty. He was not only physically empty
[32:39] Speaker 1: from running all the way past Ahabs chariots, but he
[32:43] Speaker 1: was spiritually empty because he had carried the burden in
[32:46] Speaker 1: the faith of an entire nation alone through three years
[32:50] Speaker 1: of drought. Come on don't act like you've never felt
[32:52] Speaker 1: a pity party for yourself that Why is nobody taking
[32:55] Speaker 1: care of me? Why is nobody meeting my needs? Why
[32:58] Speaker 1: is nobody cooking for me? Why is nobody cleaning for me?
[33:02] Speaker 1: And all the way away from let's let this represent
[33:04] Speaker 1: his post. He's walking away and he is not praying,
[33:08] Speaker 1: even after God feeds him, he does not pray. He
[33:11] Speaker 1: knew how to pray, he knew how to call on God,
[33:14] Speaker 1: he knew how to intercede for people, he knew how
[33:18] Speaker 1: to intercede for himself. And he and he walks away,
[33:22] Speaker 1: and I gotta imagine that with every day he went
[33:26] Speaker 1: toward the cave, he was replaying what Jezebel said. I'm
[33:30] Speaker 1: gonna kill you. I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna kill you.
[33:34] Speaker 1: Now watch this. He's replaying the wrong thing, because what
[33:40] Speaker 1: he should have been replaying was when God sent down
[33:45] Speaker 1: fire to prove that he is God and that Bail
[33:50] Speaker 1: is not. He's replaying why would you replay what Jezebel
[33:56] Speaker 1: said when you know her threat is empty? Because when
[34:00] Speaker 1: when you are empty, the enemy feels real and your
[34:03] Speaker 1: victories feel invisible. When you are empty, you beg to
[34:08] Speaker 1: you begin to forget your victories. This is what I
[34:10] Speaker 1: want to say. When you're empty, you forget your victories
[34:14] Speaker 1: and you fixate on your enemy. And now all you
[34:17] Speaker 1: can see is what's against you. And now all you
[34:20] Speaker 1: can see is what you're up under. And now all
[34:22] Speaker 1: you can see is what you lost. And now all
[34:24] Speaker 1: you can see is what you fear. And now all
[34:27] Speaker 1: you can see is what you don't want. And now
[34:29] Speaker 1: all you can see is what if it doesn't happen.
[34:31] Speaker 1: And now all you can see is all the people
[34:34] Speaker 1: who let you down. And with every step, remember he's
[34:38] Speaker 1: replaying it. He's replaying it, he's replaying it. And Jezebel's
[34:43] Speaker 1: threat is empty unless you let it echo. If she
[34:53] Speaker 1: said it once, I'm gonna kill you. And Elijah prayed
[34:56] Speaker 1: like he knew how to pray. God, you hear that,
[34:58] Speaker 1: and then step aside, because God's got something for Jezebel,
[35:03] Speaker 1: because God hasn't moved from his throne. Is my mic gone.
[35:07] Speaker 1: I said, God's got something for diabetes. God's got something
[35:11] Speaker 1: for this cancer. God's got something. God's got something. So
[35:17] Speaker 1: so if you just got to replace something, replay the ravens.
[35:25] Speaker 1: Remember Elijah was by the brook called Cherif in the
[35:29] Speaker 1: Kara Ravine, and there was no food and no water
[35:33] Speaker 1: in the land. But God sent ravens to feed his
[35:37] Speaker 1: revivalists in a time of famine. So if you're gonna
[35:41] Speaker 1: replace something, run back the ravens. This I recall to
[35:45] Speaker 1: my mind. Therefore I have hope it was God's mercies
[35:49] Speaker 1: that I wasn't consumed, because his compassions fail not They're new.
[35:54] Speaker 1: Every morning, and every morning I had bread, and every
[35:57] Speaker 1: evening I had something to drink. I remember those ravens,
[36:01] Speaker 1: God sid And if you don't remember the ravens, remember
[36:05] Speaker 1: the resurrection. Because Elijah was staying in a woman's house
[36:09] Speaker 1: and her little boy died, and Elijah stretched out his
[36:12] Speaker 1: body over that boy and breathed into that boy, and
[36:16] Speaker 1: that boy that was dead got up and started walking around.
[36:19] Speaker 1: If you just gotta replace something, replay the resurrection, and
[36:24] Speaker 1: remember that nothing is dead till God is gone with it.
[36:28] Speaker 1: Nothing is over till God says so Ron pons here
[36:32] Speaker 1: in the word of the Lord. I mean, if you
[36:37] Speaker 1: just gotta run it back, run back the time that
[36:40] Speaker 1: he fed you, Run back the time that he led you.
[36:43] Speaker 1: Run back the time that he did come through. Run back.
[36:47] Speaker 1: The ones who put their arm around, who tot five
[36:53] Speaker 1: to seven? People say, run it back, run it back,
[36:56] Speaker 1: run it back, run it back right, run it back right,
[37:00] Speaker 1: running back right. You've been replaying the wrong things, hadn't you.
[37:03] Speaker 1: You've been replaying stuff that the devil can't even bring
[37:06] Speaker 1: up against you because it's nailed to the cross my sin,
[37:11] Speaker 1: all the bliss. I gotta stop. Let me illustrate. Run
[37:22] Speaker 1: it back, running back, run it back. That's what he
[37:27] Speaker 1: should have told JESSEP. Bell. She said, I'm gonna kill you.
[37:29] Speaker 1: Elijah should have said, let's run it back. Meet me
[37:32] Speaker 1: on the mountain. I know a name that's never failed.
[37:35] Speaker 3: I know a god who can't lock hone yet us whoa.
[37:43] Speaker 1: I'm changing my title. When you put it on YouTube,
[37:46] Speaker 1: call it running back, run it back, run it back,
[37:50] Speaker 1: run it back, running back. He's been good to you.
[37:54] Speaker 4: Run it back.
[37:55] Speaker 3: He's more than enough.
[37:56] Speaker 1: Run it back. Jehovah Jyro, always provide running back.
[38:00] Speaker 4: You're not a loving.
[38:13] Speaker 1: Again. We got to talk about the cave because all
[38:22] Speaker 1: he had to do was run it back. That's all
[38:26] Speaker 1: he had to do, But instead he turned his back
[38:36] Speaker 1: on the blessing God. Gave him because the pressure he
[38:39] Speaker 1: was under was too gray, and he didn't really pray.
[38:45] Speaker 1: He didn't really pray. He went into a cave. I'm
[38:51] Speaker 1: going to go to the cave metaphorically now, just as
[38:55] Speaker 1: an illustration. He said, why do you do this? Are
[38:58] Speaker 1: you performing? I'm not perform but I am trying to
[39:03] Speaker 1: give a picture that will help you know what's really
[39:08] Speaker 1: killing your faith, what may be killing your relationships, what
[39:13] Speaker 1: may be killing your marriage. Is not death by Jezebel,
[39:18] Speaker 1: It's death by echo, because with every step you take
[39:25] Speaker 1: away from what God called you to do, and you
[39:27] Speaker 1: go to the cave. Now, the cave is the place
[39:31] Speaker 1: where you feel safe. It makes you feel safe, but
[39:36] Speaker 1: it actually makes you more anxious. Why does this addiction
[39:43] Speaker 1: that makes me feel safe only make me more anxious
[39:47] Speaker 1: and make me more crazy. It is because it's a cave.
[39:50] Speaker 1: It's a cave. And he went to the cave far
[39:55] Speaker 1: away from where he should be, with his back to
[39:57] Speaker 1: what God had for him and what God had just done.
[40:00] Speaker 1: And I want the Holy Spirit to help me right
[40:02] Speaker 1: now because he has a conversation with God in that cave.
[40:11] Speaker 1: Verse number nine says, there he went into a cave
[40:19] Speaker 1: and spent the night. It feels awkward having my back
[40:23] Speaker 1: turned to you like this when I know my job
[40:28] Speaker 1: is to preach to you. But isn't that exactly what
[40:31] Speaker 1: Elijah did? Isn't that exactly what we do? We turn
[40:40] Speaker 1: our backs on the thing that God gave us, the
[40:45] Speaker 1: responsibility God gave us, even the blessings. We will turn
[40:48] Speaker 1: our back on a blessing because of the pressure. I
[40:51] Speaker 1: have had enough. Now. I got to face you for
[40:54] Speaker 1: one moment to tell you this. If he said I
[40:57] Speaker 1: have had enough, and he meant it in a pause
[41:00] Speaker 1: of sense, I would get it. Everywhere I've gone, You've provided.
[41:04] Speaker 1: I've had enough. When I was by the brook, I
[41:08] Speaker 1: had enough. When I was on the mountain, I had enough.
[41:12] Speaker 1: There was enough provision, there was enough power. But now
[41:14] Speaker 1: he's like, I'm not enough and I've had enough, and
[41:20] Speaker 1: he goes in the cave. Without over dramatizing it, there's
[41:27] Speaker 1: something I want to show you because it says that
[41:33] Speaker 1: he went into the cave and spent the night, and
[41:41] Speaker 1: the word of the Lord came to him. This is
[41:43] Speaker 1: verse nine. Please on the screens. What are you doing here? Elijah?
[41:47] Speaker 1: Isn't that crazy that he didn't really pray in the cave.
[41:52] Speaker 1: But the Lord came. You remember my three points? He
[41:56] Speaker 1: didn't really pray, and God came. I want to thank
[42:00] Speaker 1: God for the times you didn't even really pray, but
[42:02] Speaker 1: he came, Come on, you can do better than that.
[42:05] Speaker 1: You can do better than that. The times where you
[42:10] Speaker 1: said die and God said live. The times where you
[42:14] Speaker 1: said no, but God's yes was bigger. The times where
[42:17] Speaker 1: you thought, what if I got it wrong? But God said,
[42:21] Speaker 1: what if I got it right? See? I had to
[42:23] Speaker 1: get it in because I missed it last week. But
[42:25] Speaker 1: I got it in. You hear that devil? I ran
[42:27] Speaker 1: it back and I got it in. Now let me
[42:29] Speaker 1: alone in this, Kenny, I'm in this cave. And the
[42:34] Speaker 1: Lord asked a question. Watch this. You always want God
[42:38] Speaker 1: to give you answers. What if He wants to give
[42:40] Speaker 1: you better questions? You need a better question. What are
[42:44] Speaker 1: you doing here, Elijah? You who have seen miracles, you
[42:48] Speaker 1: who have called fire, you who have prayed for rain,
[42:50] Speaker 1: you who have been sustained, What are you doing here
[42:53] Speaker 1: ninety miles away? What are you doing here in this
[42:57] Speaker 1: jacked up toxic relationship just to get somebody to pretend
[43:00] Speaker 1: like they love you when you know they're not loyal
[43:02] Speaker 1: to you. What are you doing here in these destructive
[43:05] Speaker 1: patterns that promise you safety but only make you a
[43:08] Speaker 1: shame and the shame leads to the same behavior.
[43:11] Speaker 5: What are you doing in this cave? And you know
[43:16] Speaker 5: how to pray? And God came and said, what are
[43:18] Speaker 5: you doing here? And he replied, do you see that
[43:23] Speaker 5: in verse ten? Is it on the screen? He replied,
[43:27] Speaker 5: say yes, teacher, If it's on the screen, yes, teacher.
[43:31] Speaker 1: He replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord
[43:35] Speaker 1: God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down
[43:38] Speaker 1: your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.
[43:41] Speaker 1: I am the only one left, and now they are
[43:43] Speaker 1: trying to kill me too. And then the Lord does
[43:47] Speaker 1: a little display. I know, I got my back to you.
[43:51] Speaker 1: I know it's awkward, but this is what he did.
[43:54] Speaker 1: He turned his back to his blessing because he was
[43:57] Speaker 1: caving in under the pressure. You've been caving in under
[44:03] Speaker 1: the pressure. The Lord put on a little show for him.
[44:06] Speaker 1: He sent he sent a wind, and he sent a fire,
[44:10] Speaker 1: and he sent an earthquake because he was running back
[44:13] Speaker 1: what he did when he appeared to Moses. This was
[44:16] Speaker 1: an echo of when God appeared to Moses. But God's
[44:19] Speaker 1: doing it different this time, because the Lord doesn't speak
[44:22] Speaker 1: in any of that. He speaks in verse twelve, a whisper,
[44:25] Speaker 1: a whisper, a whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he
[44:29] Speaker 1: pulled his cloak over his face and went and stood
[44:33] Speaker 1: at the mouth of the cave. Did you know that
[44:38] Speaker 1: the cave has a mouth? Did you know that when
[44:44] Speaker 1: you go in your cave, the cave talks back. Did
[44:51] Speaker 1: you know when you go in the cave and you
[44:52] Speaker 1: run away from God, and you run away from community,
[44:55] Speaker 1: and you run away from the right things, and you
[44:57] Speaker 1: run toward the wrong things. Did you know when you
[45:00] Speaker 1: replay the wrong things and the regrets and the rejection.
[45:04] Speaker 1: Did you know that when you talk to the cave,
[45:05] Speaker 1: the cave will talk back. And you think I'm crazy.
[45:08] Speaker 1: You're not crazy. You're just in a cave and the
[45:12] Speaker 1: cave is making you feel crazy. And now you're starting
[45:15] Speaker 1: to think crazy and you're starting to act crazy because
[45:18] Speaker 1: you've been in this cave because you stop praying. But
[45:21] Speaker 1: God came, and God came. When God came, he thought
[45:25] Speaker 1: it was going to be big and spectacular, but really
[45:28] Speaker 1: it was intimate and it was special. And yet the
[45:32] Speaker 1: Bible says, when the voice asked him the second time,
[45:37] Speaker 1: what are you doing here, Elijah? He replied, he replied,
[45:45] Speaker 1: according to what he replayed. And so listen what the
[45:50] Speaker 1: first word? He says? Put verse fourteen up on the screen.
[45:53] Speaker 1: He's in the cave. He's all alone, he's disappointed, he's
[45:56] Speaker 1: under pressure. And listen, you can tell why he's depressed
[45:59] Speaker 1: by the way he starts his speech. God says, what
[46:02] Speaker 1: are you doing here, elijahve more for you this? Why'd
[46:04] Speaker 1: you turn your back to what I blessed you with?
[46:06] Speaker 1: Why are you running from the right thing? Why are
[46:08] Speaker 1: you not trusting me anymore? Put the verse up on
[46:10] Speaker 1: the screen. He says, I ay, do you see that?
[46:22] Speaker 1: Because when you're in a cave, the sound bounces around. See.
[46:25] Speaker 1: So so he starts off his speech. He says, I
[46:28] Speaker 1: go and see. That's never gonna get you out of
[46:32] Speaker 1: the cave, because when you start with I have had
[46:38] Speaker 1: enough and I don't have what it takes. And I
[46:42] Speaker 1: I I I see I was filling the case. See
[46:45] Speaker 1: how's feeling the real spill? And now I can't hear
[46:47] Speaker 1: a whisky whisky.
[46:48] Speaker 4: Whisky, because I can't you hear.
[46:59] Speaker 1: It in our marriages. I guess I'll do the dishes again.
[47:04] Speaker 1: I ah, we'll just do it, so nobody else is
[47:06] Speaker 1: gonna do it, so I'll just do it. I ah,
[47:09] Speaker 1: I'm so tired of this eyes. I don't have what
[47:12] Speaker 1: it takes. I I hear Gideon in a wine breast saying,
[47:16] Speaker 1: I am the smallest, in the weakest. I hear Moses
[47:19] Speaker 1: at the Burnham Bush saying I am not good as speaking.
[47:22] Speaker 1: I hear all of the people who have come before us.
[47:25] Speaker 1: And I hear Elijah in the cave saying I but
[47:29] Speaker 1: I hear God in verse fifteen turned to the prophet
[47:33] Speaker 1: who is empty, and speak in the cave which is empty.
[47:37] Speaker 1: And the voice of the Lord speaks into an empty.
[47:40] Speaker 6: Cave in verse fifteen, and God says, go, go, go,
[47:47] Speaker 6: because I've got something ahead of you that is bigger than.
[47:51] Speaker 1: Anything that's behind you. You've got a shout of praise
[47:59] Speaker 1: that he didn't pray. But God came. And because God came,
[48:05] Speaker 1: he didn't stay.
[48:07] Speaker 3: Somebody shall I'm coming out.
[48:08] Speaker 7: Of this cave. I'm coming out of this cave. I'm
[48:12] Speaker 7: coming out of this misery. I'm coming out of this
[48:15] Speaker 7: straight second. I'm coming out of this book. I'm coming
[48:18] Speaker 7: out of this suppression. I'm coming out of this cycle.
[48:21] Speaker 7: I'm coming out of this part. I'm coming out of
[48:24] Speaker 7: this cave.
[48:30] Speaker 1: Because I know how to pray. See, so I'm not
[48:33] Speaker 1: starting this prayer with I. I I I'm gonna say you, you,
[48:39] Speaker 1: you have brought me this far God, and you, you,
[48:43] Speaker 1: you are able to keep me from falling. And you, you,
[48:48] Speaker 1: you are gonna get the glory from my life. It's
[48:51] Speaker 1: about you, you, you.
[48:54] Speaker 5: It's not about me, me, me.
[48:58] Speaker 1: I don't care what they they, they say, I'm coming
[49:03] Speaker 1: out of this cave. I'm coming out of this cave.
[49:07] Speaker 1: God's been too good for me to stay in this cave.
[49:12] Speaker 1: I am coming out of this cave. As a matter
[49:16] Speaker 1: of fact, I just remembered another cave, another cave that
[49:21] Speaker 1: was loaned to somebody by a man named Joseph of Arimafia.
[49:27] Speaker 1: And they laid him in the cave for three days.
[49:32] Speaker 1: And you say, wait a minute, pastor, it wasn't a cave.
[49:35] Speaker 1: It was a grave. No, it wasn't a grave because
[49:38] Speaker 1: he didn't stay there. He did not stay.
[49:42] Speaker 3: And I came doing now this cave is not my grave. No, no, no,
[49:47] Speaker 3: I'm coming out. I'm coming out with my hands up.
[49:52] Speaker 1: I'm coming out with my heart broken. But I'm coming
[49:57] Speaker 1: out because God can. Because God can.
[50:13] Speaker 8: And if you stay an eye I I.
[50:18] Speaker 1: It's gonna die. Die, die. But it won't be death
[50:23] Speaker 1: by Jessebel. It will be death by echo echo, because
[50:31] Speaker 1: the regret can only paralyze you if you keep replaying it.
[50:43] Speaker 1: Write this down. It's not the threat that kills me.
[50:48] Speaker 1: It's the way I let it echo echo, echo. It's
[50:55] Speaker 1: the way you keep replaying your shame rather than realizing
[51:01] Speaker 1: that he paid for it. I said he paid for it.
[51:05] Speaker 1: I said he paid for it.
[51:08] Speaker 9: So hold on, devil, watch this. You want to put
[51:12] Speaker 9: me in a cave of shame. Let's run it back.
[51:16] Speaker 9: Let's run it back. What happened after he came down
[51:20] Speaker 9: off the cross? What happened after he went down in
[51:24] Speaker 9: the cave. You say it's a grave. Why do you
[51:29] Speaker 9: keep saying cave because it's empty? Yes, because it's empty.
[51:37] Speaker 1: For the empty people in the room today who have
[51:41] Speaker 1: felt just like Elijah. Maybe you don't say I want
[51:43] Speaker 1: to die, but maybe you say I can't live like
[51:46] Speaker 1: this anymore. There's too much pressure, man. And I'm blessed.
[51:51] Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful. I appreciate everything God's
[51:53] Speaker 1: done for me. But i'm thankful, I'm exhausted. I don't
[51:57] Speaker 1: have a word for it. I have had enough. Remember,
[52:01] Speaker 1: even though he didn't really pray, not like he was
[52:03] Speaker 1: supposed to pray, God came anyway, and this is your
[52:07] Speaker 1: day that God has heard you in the cave, cave, cave.
[52:13] Speaker 1: He's heard the way the thoughts keep rattling around in
[52:15] Speaker 1: your head. He knows how you can't expunge yourself of it.
[52:19] Speaker 1: He knows how you can't eliminate the fear. He knows
[52:22] Speaker 1: how you can't get rid of the things. He knows
[52:24] Speaker 1: that you are still trapped in the trauma of what
[52:26] Speaker 1: happened to you.
[52:26] Speaker 9: And so he came, came, and he said, let's go.
[52:33] Speaker 1: Because Elisha, the successor of Elijah, was already in the field,
[52:40] Speaker 1: but he's not in this cave. So you got to
[52:44] Speaker 1: come back to the place where you know God called
[52:48] Speaker 1: you to be and live the life that God wants
[52:52] Speaker 1: to enable you to live. And when they say how
[52:56] Speaker 1: do you feel about it? You could say it's complicated,
[53:00] Speaker 1: it's complicated because I got one voice telling me die,
[53:05] Speaker 1: Die Die.
[53:07] Speaker 8: But I heard a whisper that said live, Live, Live,
[53:14] Speaker 8: and I'm choosing to live by the whisper.
[53:24] Speaker 1: Would you stand for your feet? Would you stand all
[53:27] Speaker 1: over this room right now and with your head spowled
[53:30] Speaker 1: and eyes closed. Somebody be honest with me when I
[53:34] Speaker 1: say three, I want you to shoot your hand. If
[53:36] Speaker 1: you've been in the cave, okay, okay, I I they
[53:43] Speaker 1: they they, But he he, You're that whisper, that's him.
[53:52] Speaker 8: You feel that heart beating in your chest as him.
[53:55] Speaker 1: You're not done with you yet. He can't be jesse
[54:00] Speaker 1: Jessepel can't kill you. Jessepel can't The grave couldn't hold him.
[54:08] Speaker 1: What can hold you here? If it's been you and
[54:13] Speaker 1: you need me to pray for you today because you've
[54:16] Speaker 1: got a cave you need to come out of. I
[54:18] Speaker 1: want you to be bold and shoot your hand up
[54:20] Speaker 1: and hold it up. I'm praying for you. One, two, three,
[54:24] Speaker 1: Hold it up, Hold it up, Keep it up, keep
[54:27] Speaker 1: it up. Repeat after me. I'm coming out of this Father,
[54:33] Speaker 1: in the name of Jesus, I declare that where your
[54:36] Speaker 1: spirit is there is freedom for these who have lifted
[54:42] Speaker 1: their hands, and you are asking what are you doing
[54:46] Speaker 1: here today? To them? God, I pray that they would
[54:50] Speaker 1: realize that that question is prophetic. What are they doing here?
[54:55] Speaker 1: They're here because you have something for them. They are
[54:58] Speaker 1: here because you are not done with They are here
[55:01] Speaker 1: because you came to get them out the cave. That's why.
[55:05] Speaker 1: That's why you woke me up at three am to
[55:07] Speaker 1: come and get them out the cave. I believe it, God,
[55:09] Speaker 1: I believe somebody is coming out today. Somebody is coming
[55:12] Speaker 1: out today. Somebody is coming out of something that they
[55:15] Speaker 1: thought was gonna kill him. But it is not going
[55:17] Speaker 1: to kill them. It will not be the end of them.
[55:22] Speaker 1: So we lift our hands and we lift our eyes,
[55:28] Speaker 1: and we declare that just as Jezebel has an echo,
[55:31] Speaker 1: so does Heaven. The echo of Heaven is holy, Holy,
[55:37] Speaker 1: Holy is the Lord God, Almighty, Thank you Jesus. The
[55:41] Speaker 1: echo of Heaven is worthy, worthy, Worthy is the Lamb
[55:45] Speaker 1: of God. The echo of Heaven is hallelujah. Somebody say hallelujah.
[55:51] Speaker 1: Come on, with your hands lifted up and a heart
[55:54] Speaker 1: filled with praise. You know how to praise. You just
[55:56] Speaker 1: stop praising, but praise them right now. When I say Halley,
[56:00] Speaker 1: you say lujah, Holley. Somebody say Hollylujah, Hallylujah to the
[56:07] Speaker 1: man on the middle cross, the one who didn't know
[56:11] Speaker 1: the dead but he paid it off, the one who
[56:14] Speaker 1: rolled away the stone, the one who came out of
[56:17] Speaker 1: the cave on the third day, and if he rolled
[56:21] Speaker 1: the stone away, and if he.
[56:23] Speaker 3: Got up, getting up too.
[56:26] Speaker 1: I'm coming out of this cave. I'm coming out of this.
[56:30] Speaker 7: I'm coming out better.
[56:31] Speaker 1: I'm coming out here.
[56:33] Speaker 4: I'm coming out.
[56:33] Speaker 3: Hole, I'm coming out bless, I'm coming out.
[56:37] Speaker 1: I'm coming out.
[56:38] Speaker 7: I'm coming out with a.
[56:39] Speaker 3: Phrase with a phrase, no the place with praise. Hey.
[56:46] Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did,
[56:49] Speaker 1: make sure to share it and subscribe so we can
[56:52] Speaker 1: get you all of these new messages as soon as
[56:55] Speaker 1: they're available. I also want to take a moment and
[56:57] Speaker 1: thank all of you who are a part of Elevation.
[57:00] Speaker 1: Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or
[57:03] Speaker 1: just share these messages, it's because of you that we're
[57:06] Speaker 1: able to reach people all around the world. And if
[57:09] Speaker 1: you want more information on how to be a part
[57:12] Speaker 1: of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks again
[57:16] Speaker 1: for listening, make sure to leave a review, share the
[57:18] Speaker 1: message and subscribe. God bless you.

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