Dr. Tony Evans reminds us that God is with us in the New Year… and no matter how difficult 2022 may have been. In this word of the year for 2023, we’re shown the new year is full of new mercies that we should give God praise for every day.
[Music]
I’m gonna move a little further in this
series today but I just got to stop and
and say something to you now and I’ll
just tell you I’m just we’re gonna move
deep and I’m gonna talk about conviction
today but but before I do I want to tell
you about yesterday morning when I got
convicted by the Holy Spirit I went out
to this park that I go to it’s right by
the beach and I work out there and I go
there to pray and I went out there to
pray and when the workout was finished I
went out and I looked over the waters
and I was getting ready to pray and I
started to pray about something I need
and the Holy Spirit convicted me and
said that’s not what you need to be
praying about and I said okay because it
wasn’t a bad prayer it wasn’t evil it
wasn’t wicked it wasn’t that it just
wasn’t what the highest version of me
should have been praying in that moment
I’m gonna teach that in a minute so I go
to pray and and it felt like this is not
I didn’t feel an anointing on praying
for that thing how many of us know you
feel you should feel the anointing when
you pray sometimes it’s better let the
spirit pray for you you wanna me instead
of it becoming these vain repetitions
there is something that God wants you to
pray in a particular moment that’s why I
pray with my understanding like we
talked about last week and I pray in
this spirit because I want to cover
everybody’s prayer not just my prayer I
want to cover the Holy Spirit’s prayer
so anyway I’m there and I was getting
ready to pray this nothing wrong with
this thing this good thing and then hope
the conviction Holy Spirit you can’t
play it felt almost like sin to pray
that and it was a good thing and so I’m
like well God didn’t what am I surprised
I started thing then you know you try to
go real spiritual I’m like okay well we
got the Women’s Conference coming and
maybe I need to be praying for the
Women’s Conference and that’s a good
thing right and we’ve been praying for
it but guy was like that ain’t it either
and then you know then you get all
religious stuff like that wow I’m just
praying that all the world would be
saying and that is a good prayer right
but it wasn’t it
and the Lord was basically like asked me
what I want you to pray and so I pause
overlooking the water the vastness of
God I paused and I realized in that
moment by the Holy Spirit that my
prayers were too small and sometimes God
can’t do what he wants to do through
your life because you don’t have the
capacity to ask him properly you
understand what I’m saying he told he
told David or David sang about the Lord
in Psalm 2 & 8
and God said ask of me and I’ll give you
the nation’s he’s like ask for nation’s
and so I’m there I’m like God what do
you want me to pray for and then he said
I want you to think about what’s been
happening lately and I thought I’m like
wow okay we had a couple of earthquakes
and let me just say as a believer you’re
not supposed to just like take an
earthquake and just go on about your
business I understand you watching the
news and and getting all that you know
we’ve got those wonderful doctors from
the USGS we thank God for them and they
give us the scientific interpretation of
the earthquake but how many so there’s a
spiritual interpretation of the
earthquake – hello so you embrace the
scientific and I’m not saying that you
have a corner on the earthquake you some
people like okay in is coming not so
fast
but Jesus did say something in Matthew
24 that as the day draws near there’s
going to be earthquakes in various and
various places so there is a connection
between what Jesus said is happening and
what is happening and so it should sober
all of us at least a little bit don’t
get caught up in the science of it the
sides of it is wonderful that’s that’s
great but there’s a spiritual
understanding there’s something that the
Holy Spirit wants us to do as we start
seeing things like that happen right and
so I was like while we did have those
earthquakes he’s like yeah and then it
just came to me he said here’s what I
want you to pray he says understand this
when the earth shakes when there is a
natural disaster or when there is a
human disaster when there are conditions
that are crazy and things that seem to
get worse you have to understand that
that is what the Bible calls the earth
or the creation grow
I want you to studies when you get a
chance as Romans chapter 8 and you can
start reading the first night didn’t go
away down in fact just read from Genesis
to Revelation you’ll forget the point
trust me but it talks about the Bible
talks about how the earth the creation
everything that got created is groaning
it’s groaning and then it also says that
and we too are groaning so watch this
when the earth groans you are supposed
to groan awful holy spirit you when the
earth groans the Spirit is groaning but
sometimes just as there were some who
did not feel the earthquake because for
whatever reason you were not in a bad
way but just distract it from being
steal enough to feel it does not mean
that the earthquake didn’t happen you
feel me
so sometimes we’re busy can I just
preach for a second sometimes we’re so
busy in our lives their spirit is
groaning but we’re moving and
functioning and doing so much in our own
shrimp or in what we want to do that we
don’t even feel the shaking
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
hello somebody I didn’t feel the first
quake on the third because I was hiking
I was moving that Roma I came but when
my wife and I decided to get into bed
early and we lay down to watch TV
we felt the earthquake so as I’m
standing over this way looking at the
vastness of the sea it came to me as I
paused I let the Holy Spirit lead me and
guide me my prayer that what the Holy
Spirit wanted me to pray for was the
revealing or the manifesting of the
children of God because that passage in
Romans 8:19 says that all of creation is
eagerly waiting watch this for the
revealing of you are a Borgia
every time the earth shakes God is
calling your name every time there is a
natural disaster or some calamity every
time the earth grows the Spirit of God
assigned to you is groaning – so God
said what you need to pray for what you
need to pray for is pray for the
revealing of my children pray that what
my people would get serious about me and
start walking with me and start being
led by me so that they can start
becoming in me and that’s what I prayed
that’s what God wanted and I hear God
said I got all that other stuff covered
I feel the Holy Ghost God saying I’ve
got your life covered I need you to pray
prayers that are bigger than your life I
need you to ask
four nations asked me for America ask me
for Africa asked me for Brazil Indonesia
asked for India
[Music]
praying to small church we pray to small
if your prayer life is only about you to
small even in the model prayer he said
pray first before we got into any of the
daily bread he said pray your kingdom
come your will be done on earth as it is
in heaven and then it ends with for
thine is the kingdom and that is the
power and thine is the glory big prayers
I feel this for some of you as God
increases your capacity to pray he’s
gonna make your life bigger bigger
prayer bigger life he’s got you covered
he knows about your little money he
knows about you
he knows about your little bills he
knows about your house
play some big Kingdom
you will create a four
and it’s funny God speaks that to me and
then all of a sudden rabbits start
coming around me and squirrels start
coming around me and birds start drawing
calls and it was almost like they were
saying we’re waiting on you will you be
who God has created you to be
and stop playing and get busy can I talk
to you like that today where my real
believers ain’t talking about believers