Leveling the Praying Field
Pastor Danny Hood 9/14/2025
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50:46
Summary
Pastor Danny Hood encourages believers that God is 'leveling the praying field' by removing every mountain of opposition and exalting every valley of despair to ensure His glory is revealed in their lives. By persisting in prayer and trusting the proven Word of God, believers can move from a state of conflict to a state of dominion and complete the spiritual work God has begun in them.
Key points
- •God removes spiritual obstacles such as mountains of pride and fear and valleys of frustration to create a straight path for His presence.
- •Your current trial does not dictate your final destination; faith is the substance that reinterprets a season of failure or fainting into one of victory.
- •The 'valley' in a believer's life is not a place of permanent residency or doom but a passage designed for deliverance and transit to the next level of dominion.
- •When progress seems stalled (like the foundation of the temple in Zerubbabel's time), God's word remains active and will finish the work He started.
- •Spiritual success is measured by the 'plummet' or word in the hand of the man of God, not by the accusations of adversaries or the 'dirt' of the world.
Scripture
Prayer
Deliverance
Overcoming Obstacles
Restoration
Faith
Life application
Identify a 'mountain' of fear or a 'valley' of discouragement you are currently facing and intentionally move toward the 'altar' through prayer this week, trusting that God has already leveled the path for your breakthrough.
Reflection questions
- In what areas of your life have you allowed 'mountain makers' (pride or the devil's lies) to block your access to God's peace?
- Pastor Hood mentioned that we often listen to the wrong directions; whose voice have you been prioritizing lately, and does it align with the Word of God?
- How does viewing your current struggle as a 'valley to walk through' rather than a place to dwell change your perspective on your circumstances?
- Are there 'small things' or unfinished foundations in your spiritual life that you have despised or abandoned? How can you pick up the 'plummet' and start building again?
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Full transcript
0:00Good job. Now, I will only preach 55
0:01minutes.
0:04Some of you don't know me. You're going,
0:05"Is he going to preach 55 minutes?"
0:09What a great What a great presence of
0:11the Lord here today. And I'll I'll be
0:14referencing
0:16Isaiah 40 and 3-5 to begin the message
0:20today.
0:21And it's a scripture that actually
0:24prophesied the coming of John the
0:25Baptist. But I want to expand on
0:29beyond the literal fulfillment and the
0:32actuality of that the the application of
0:35that today.
0:37And the scripture says talking about the
0:40voice of him that crith in the
0:43wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the
0:44Lord. Make straight in the desert a
0:48highway for our God." Now this is what's
0:51powerful. Every valley shall be exalted.
0:55Every mountain and hill shall be made
0:57low. And the crooked place shall be made
1:00straight. And the rough places plain.
1:03Praise God.
1:06And
1:08the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
1:11and all flesh shall see it, for the
1:13mouth of the Lord hath spoken.
1:16I want to minister for a little while
1:18today and I'm I'm just I I feel like I'm
1:21right at home in the vein of what your
1:23theme is, but I want to talk about how
1:26God levels the praying field. How God
1:30levels the praying field. You've heard
1:33how God or how we level a playing field,
1:37but I want to tell you how God levels a
1:39praying field. Would you just lift your
1:41hands across this place and ask God to
1:43minister to you
1:46to speak to you,
1:48to bless you where you need strength,
1:52to empower you where you've been weak,
1:55to anoint you where maybe you feel like
1:58you've lost purpose, to remind you that
2:01you're a child of God. You're an heir of
2:03God and a joint heir with Christ. and
2:06that when you enter his gates with
2:07thanksgiving and into his courts with
2:09praise. When you offer thanks unto the
2:12Lord, it transforms
2:14the opposition into a divine
2:16opportunity. And I want you to believe
2:18that God is not only going to speak to
2:20you today, but God's going to put
2:22something in your spirit. God wants to
2:24impart something in this atmosphere. God
2:26wants to release an anointing today that
2:30will break the yoke. If you believe that
2:32with me, would you just praise God one
2:34more time as we get in
2:37to the word of the Lord? Hallelujah.
2:40Hallelujah.
2:42How many have a madeup mind today that
2:44you're going to get everything from God
2:46that you want to get?
2:49>> That you're going to break through every
2:50barrier? That you're going to overcome
2:52every obstacle? That you're not going to
2:54let the hindering forces of darkness
2:56keep you back from the dominion of what
2:59God has determined. belongs to you. Am I
3:03preaching to anybody in this place that
3:05brought a praise today that says I'm
3:08going to stand for what is right? I'm
3:10going to lift my voice and I'm going to
3:13amplify the good things of God.
3:17Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Clap
3:20your hands one more time.
3:24Somebody shout, "God's going to do it
3:27in Jesus name.
3:31Now sometimes
3:34you can misinterpret what's happening.
3:38Uh Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the
3:42substance of things hoped for, the
3:44evidence of things not seen." Most of us
3:47would rather just go ahead and see it.
3:50But if you're not careful, you can you
3:52can kind of start off in a way where
3:54it's like
3:56f ai,
3:58but it can be I have failed f a i l e d
4:04or I have fainted f a i n t e d.
4:10But the scripture says it's now faith
4:13f ai t.
4:16Don't let the beginning of the trial
4:18reinterpret
4:20where you're going to end up. Don't say,
4:23"Well, I'm going to end up in failure."
4:25No, I'm going to end up in faith.
4:28>> I'm not going to be wasted by the
4:31wayside. I'm not going to be left in the
4:34wreckage of ruin in a ditch. But I'm
4:37going to stand in faith. And I'm going
4:39to proclaim that the hand of God is upon
4:42my life. And he is taking me to a
4:45destination. And I may have to endure
4:48some things. I may have to overcome some
4:50obstacles. I may have to break through
4:52some things. But I know that God's hand
4:55is upon me. And for somebody that is
4:58living in a valley of frustration, let
5:00me tell you what the scripture said. He
5:02said the valley is going to be exalted.
5:04And for somebody that's living in the
5:06obstacles of the mountain and the
5:08oppositions to your faith and they feel
5:10like they are too great to climb, he
5:12said every mountain and heal is going to
5:14be made low. And for somebody that feels
5:17like you don't know how to overcome the
5:19twists and turns of life. Maybe some of
5:23you are living in a good mystery novel
5:24and you're right in the middle of it and
5:25the antagonist is winning and all the
5:27adversaries look like they're going to
5:29rejoice in your demise.
5:33How many like a good novel? How many
5:35cheat and go to the back of the book to
5:37see what happened before you even get
5:39done?
5:40Most of you don't, but my wife is one of
5:42those. She likes to go ahead and see
5:44what happened. I'm like, there's no
5:47mystery left. There's there's no You got
5:50to let the story build. You got to, you
5:52know, eventually that antagonist is
5:54going to get his due unless it's a Greek
5:57tragedy.
5:58Some of you need to come out of living
6:00your Greek tragedy and come back to
6:02living into the grace of a go of a God
6:05who is going to supply every need. He's
6:07going to help you break through every
6:09situation that seems to be blockading
6:11you. So if it's a valley of frustration
6:14or it's a mountain that's an obstacle,
6:16the Lord says, "I'm going to level it.
6:20I can bring you up if you're down or I
6:23can bring down the obstacle that's in
6:25your way." or if you feel like you're in
6:26the twists and turns and I don't know
6:28where this is taking me. Am I preaching
6:30to anybody today that when you first got
6:33on the ramp, you thought it was a
6:36highway to heaven, but along the way you
6:39thought, "Maybe I was misdirected here.
6:41Maybe I followed the wrong guide here.
6:43Maybe my GPS got broke.
6:46>> Maybe I need some rerouting." And and
6:48while you almost gave in to the whispers
6:51of darkness and discouragement, you
6:53said, "Oh, no. I'm going to stay on this
6:55path of righteousness for his name's
6:57sake because the Lord is my shepherd. I
7:00shall not want. Let's just establish
7:03that right now. God is the one who is in
7:06control. I do not belong to myself. I am
7:09the beloved of his kingdom. He has
7:11blessed me more than I could ever
7:13define. And it is the God that has put
7:16me in his fold. It is God that put me at
7:18his table. It is God that feeds me a
7:21feast of his grace and manifest his
7:24mercy in my life. And I'm not going back
7:27to the rubbish of the world.
7:31>> Somebody needs to say, "I know where I'm
7:33headed because he's going to make the
7:35crooked the crooked is going to be
7:38straight."
7:40>> Praise God. Praise God. He leadth me
7:42beside the still waters. We like that. I
7:45like the peace. He leadth me in the in
7:48the paths of righteousness for his
7:50name's sake. I I like that. He restoreth
7:54my soul. I like that. But then all of a
7:57sudden, verse three said, "Yay, though I
7:58walk through the valley of the shadow of
8:01death." When you started out at the
8:03still waters and in the green pastures
8:04and being led in the beautiful places,
8:07you weren't always told about the
8:09valleys and the shadows of death. That's
8:11why you have to endure. Don't quit when
8:14you're confused. God's going to bring
8:17clarity. I'm preaching to somebody right
8:20now. You got some blurry vision and the
8:22lens of your faith is a little bit out
8:25of focus. But I want to tell you in the
8:27encouragement of the Holy Ghost, he's
8:29going to bring the valley up and the
8:31mountain down and the crooked is going
8:33to be made straight and the rough places
8:35plain.
8:36[Applause]
8:38Glory. What do I do when I'm in the
8:41valley? I pray. What do I do when I face
8:43the mountain? I pray. What do I do when
8:46the twists and the turns of life and
8:49everything crooked is against me? I
8:51pray. What do I do when it gets rough
8:54and I don't know where to go? I pray
8:57because God levels the praying field.
9:01Glory.
9:04I'm trying to tell somebody in the Holy
9:05Ghost that God is making it easy for you
9:09to get to him.
9:11>> You're in the house of a living God
9:13today. You don't have to sit in
9:15cynicism. You don't have to stay with
9:17folded arms of indifference. But you can
9:20say, "Look at that easy route right down
9:22there to the front. I don't have to step
9:24over anything. I don't have to jump up
9:26on any boxes like Mario and Luigi.
9:30Praise God.
9:32You know, my father-in-law was a
9:34district Super Nintendo for
9:38Sorry,
9:39was terrible.
9:43I saw these bricks up bricks up here and
9:46I I remembered why they arrested the
9:48mason for first-degree murder.
9:52Okay, see that's terrible. That that's
9:55my contribution to the 80s. I bring you
9:57terrible '8s dad's jokes
10:00and there could be a few more that slip
10:02out before the end.
10:04How many have a madeup mind that if God
10:07leveled the praying field, sometimes I'm
10:11the one getting in my own way? Sometimes
10:13I build obstacles that really aren't
10:16there. They're just illusions. They're
10:18just WS of the devil. They're just my
10:21imagination running wild, but casting
10:23down every imagination and every high
10:26thing that exalted itself against the
10:28knowledge of God, bringing into
10:30captivity every thought to the obedience
10:33of Christ. You can make it easy to get
10:35to the altar today if you'll get control
10:37of your mind.
10:40You might have come in here mad at your
10:42spouse. Now, don't look to the left or
10:43to the right.
10:44>> Don't say he's talking to us right now
10:46cuz I didn't come here to do a marriage
10:47seminar. But you got along all week
10:50long, didn't you? Until you got in the
10:51car this morning and headed to church.
10:54And that was going to be the moment when
10:55you started fussing. I turned back and
10:57asked Sister Winter, I said, "When you
10:59and your husband get in a fuss, does he
11:00put out the fires?" Never mind.
11:04It's just see it's a it's just they're
11:07just going to slip out every now and
11:08then. I can't I can't. It's the way
11:10you're dressed.
11:12I just ain't going to even be able to
11:14take my own self too serious today.
11:17Aren't you glad that in the kingdom of
11:19God that if God has made up his mind
11:23that you're going to get somewhere? It
11:25doesn't matter what the interference is
11:26to your faith.
11:28>> It doesn't matter what's going on in the
11:30atmosphere. I mean, the devil can be
11:31thundering and the lightning can be
11:34striking and the winds can be blowing
11:35and there can be damaging sounds all
11:37around. But if God has decided that
11:39you're going to get to the other side,
11:41that you're going to walk through the
11:42valley of the shadow of death, then you
11:45can say with the psalmist, I will fear
11:47no evil.
11:49>> It isn't because I've got confidence in
11:51my flesh. It's because I know that thou
11:53art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they
11:57comfort me.
11:59Thou preparest a table before me in the
12:01presence of mine enemy. Thou anointest
12:04my head with oil. My cup runth over.
12:07Watch. Watch how it is. Now, you've
12:08quoted this passage at 1500 funerals.
12:13Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
12:16me all the days of my life. Why are some
12:18of you worried about what's behind you?
12:21If you believed your book, you'd realize
12:24that it ain't the haunts of hell on your
12:26trail. You'd realize, wait a minute, the
12:29book said
12:32goodness and mercy's on my trail going
12:34to follow me all the days of my life.
12:36and I will dwell in the house of the
12:40Lord forever. I go through the valley,
12:43but that's not where I live.
12:46>> I go through the trial, but that's not
12:48where I live. I go through the
12:50wilderness, but that's not where I live.
12:54I go through the heartache. I go through
12:56the sickness, but that's not where I
12:58live. I go through the tragedy, the
13:00trauma, the tribulation, and the
13:02trouble, but that's not where I live.
13:04where I dwell. My residency is in the
13:08house of the living God.
13:11Did anybody come to the house today for
13:13healing? Did anybody come to the house
13:15today for breakthrough? Did anybody come
13:18to the house today to hear something
13:20besides all of the negative reports and
13:22all of the pessimistic vocabulary and
13:25the lexicon of evil? You came into the
13:27presence of God today to hear a thus
13:30sayaeth the Lord that says I'm going to
13:32level the praying field. I don't care
13:35who's against you. I don't care how many
13:37adversaries you've got stacked up
13:39against you. If you will lift up your
13:42voice and pray.
13:45[Applause]
13:48Praise God.
13:51>> How many How many ladies here have China
13:52in your house?
13:55>> Not the country.
13:59You have you have nice China. Did you go
14:01to China to get it? Now, somebody might
14:03have, but did you buy the China here in
14:06America? But on the back of it, does it
14:08say made in China?
14:10It was made in China, but it didn't stay
14:12in China.
14:15It was meant to get somewhere else. See,
14:17you might be made in the wilderness,
14:20but God doesn't want you to stay in the
14:21wilderness.
14:23Yay though I walk through.
14:26>> You know what happens when we stop
14:27praying? We let pride build a mountain
14:30>> and then we let the devil start dumping
14:32dirt everywhere. The devil is a mountain
14:35maker because he gets that back hole and
14:37he backs up and he starts grabbing all
14:39this dirt and he'll bring it and he'll
14:41just pile it right up in front of your
14:43altar. Look at what you did. Look at
14:45what you said. Look at where you've
14:46been. Look at who you hurt. Look at
14:48who's hurt you. And they ain't even come
14:49and ask forgiveness yet. You ought to
14:52just stew in that bitterness. You ought
14:54to just live with vindictiveness. You
14:56ought to just keep drinking that bitter
14:58brew.
15:00>> You ought to just let that poison your
15:02spirit. So every time you go to praise
15:04God, you can't hardly praise God cuz
15:06you're looking out of the corner of your
15:07eye and somebody you want to give the
15:09five-fold ministry to.
15:13Am I telling the truth?
15:16>> But the enemy is a master at piling up
15:19dirt. But I serve a God today that says,
15:23"I'm going to raise up the valley, bring
15:25down the mountain, straighten up the
15:26crooked place, and make the rough places
15:29plain." Why? Because the glory of the
15:31Lord wants to be revealed. Because the
15:33word of God has already spoken something
15:37that is greater than your dilemma.
15:42>> How many are facing things right now
15:45that's timesensitive?
15:47I need God to do something now. I need
15:49God to do something this week. I need
15:51God to help me in this situation.
15:54I need God to give me a breakthrough or
15:57I'm going to break down.
16:00But don't break down. Just do like these
16:03kids did up here today. Just break out
16:05>> or break dance.
16:10Don't lose your mind. Just moonwalk
16:13for Jesus
16:15>> because God is able. And I believe that
16:18in the power of his word, he's going to
16:21speak to somebody today. You know, there
16:22was a time in the book of Daniel in
16:25Daniel chapter 2 that Daniel begins to
16:27describe an image of the end time. And
16:30he starts describing all these gentile
16:32empires. And he says, "Oh king, thou saw
16:35us." And there was a great image. And
16:37this great image whose brightness was
16:39excellent stood before thee. And the
16:41form thereof was terrible is what the
16:44Bible says. And then he starts talking
16:46about the image. His head was of gold
16:48and his and his arms and and chest of
16:52silver and his belly and and thighs of
16:54brass and his legs of iron and the feet
16:56part of iron and part of clay. And then
16:59he said verse 33, he said, "Thou sawest
17:01till that a stone was cut out without
17:05hands,
17:07which smokeote the image upon his feet
17:10thereof, and break them to pieces." that
17:14those feet that were made of iron and
17:15clay. And then he said, "Then was the
17:18iron, the clay, the gold, the silver,
17:20the gold broken to pieces together and
17:23became as the chaff of the summer
17:25threshing floors. And the wind carried
17:27them away and there was no place found
17:30for them. But that stone, that stone
17:32that smoked that image became a great
17:34mountain
17:36>> and filled the whole earth."
17:39See, what God does is he moves the
17:41enemy's mountain so he can build his own
17:44mountain.
17:45God doesn't want you to be on the
17:47mountain of defeat. He wants you to be
17:49on the mountain of of dominion. Some of
17:52you have been climbing the wrong heels.
17:55If you're climbing a hill of hate or
17:57coming up on the backside of bitterness,
18:00that's not the peak you want to be on
18:02because that peaks with anger. That
18:04peaks with a temper tantrum. That peaks
18:07with irritation. That peaks with
18:09hindrances to your faith. But you need
18:11to say, "Wait just a minute. My God, who
18:14is a mountain mover, is going to level
18:16the playing field, and I'm going to
18:18bring this to God, and God is going to
18:21turn my obstacle into an opportunity. If
18:24you believe that today, you ought to
18:26stand up on your feet for a moment and
18:28lift your voice and say, "I know that
18:31every enemy and every adversary that is
18:33working against me today, I'm going to
18:35submit it and surrender it to the power
18:38of the word of God because God has
18:41already spoken something into my spirit
18:44that is greater than what the enemy can
18:47condemn. It is greater than how the
18:49adversaries can intimidate. I came into
18:53the presence of God today to level up in
18:57the presence of God. Lift up your voice
19:00to the Lord.
19:02[Applause]
19:05Woo.
19:08Be seated just for a few moments.
19:11>> The Bible tells us in Zechariah 14,
19:13"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and
19:16thy spoil shall be divided in the midst
19:18of thee." It starts out very dreary.
19:21starts out with doom. It starts out with
19:23something that is the dialogue of defeat
19:26and destruction.
19:27It is basically a spoil, the plunder,
19:32the treasures of Jerusalem being divided
19:35right in the midst of the what that
19:37means is that the enemy was having a
19:40good time in their city. The enemy was
19:44having a good time on your doorstep.
19:47The enemy was having a good time on your
19:49porch, blocking your door and putting
19:53your mind in a place of imprisonment.
19:56And then the scripture says he said the
19:59the Lord said for I will bring all
20:00nations against Jerusalem to battle and
20:03the city shall be taken and the houses
20:06rifled and the women ravished and half
20:09of the city shall go forth into
20:11captivity and and the the half of the
20:15people or the people shall not be cut
20:16off from the city. Everybody say, "Boy,
20:18that sounds bad."
20:21It is bad. But you have to keep reading.
20:25Don't get into the middle of the book
20:27and say, "Forget this. There's too much
20:28conflict." No. If you're going to be a
20:31conqueror, you go through the conflict.
20:34How many knows the Bible said, "I'm more
20:35than a conqueror."
20:37>> If you're more than a conqueror, then
20:39you can't be satisfied sitting back
20:41being sarcastic about what somebody else
20:43said or how somebody else is getting
20:44blessed at the moment. You got to keep
20:47reading your book because he's the
20:48author and the finisher of your faith.
20:50He's going to close the chapter of your
20:53conflict. And by the time you get to
20:54that last page, he will have pinned in
20:56his own blood the victories and the
20:58songs of triumph.
21:01>> But you have to keep going. You have to
21:04keep enduring. And that's why verse
21:07three says, "Then shall the Lord go
21:09forth and fight against those nations as
21:11when he fought in the day of battle. And
21:13his feet shall stand in that day upon
21:16the Mount of Olives, which is before
21:18Jerusalem on the east. and the Mount of
21:20Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof
21:23toward the east and toward the west. And
21:25there shall be a very great valley, and
21:27half of the mountain shall remove toward
21:29the north, and half of it toward the
21:31south. Because I'm telling you, when
21:33Jesus comes, he's a mountain mover. Can
21:36I preach to anybody today with a
21:39mountain of fear in front of you? Can I
21:41preach to somebody today that's on the
21:43hilltop of hatred? Maybe it's
21:45self-hatred, but the Lord says, "I'm
21:48going to put my foot on your mountain,
21:51and when I do, the mountain mover is
21:54going to work a miracle."
21:56The mountain mover is going to create a
21:59valley.
22:01You know why he created that valley? If
22:03you go study it later in Zechariah 14,
22:05the scripture says, "And ye shall flee
22:07to the valley of the mountains, for the
22:09valley of the mountains shall reach unto
22:12angel. Yay, you shall flee like as you
22:14fled from before the earthquake in the
22:17days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and the
22:19Lord my God shall come and all the
22:21saints with thee. What is literally
22:23going to happen when Jesus comes again?
22:25When he puts his foot on the Mount of
22:27Olives, it's going to split and create a
22:29valley. And the folks that are trapped
22:31in the city are going to have a way to
22:33get to Jesus.
22:35He's going to make it easy for there to
22:37be deliverance from the dominion of
22:39darkness right to where he is before he
22:42walks across that kid valley and through
22:45the eastern gate to set up his throne.
22:48He's going to create a valley of
22:50deliver. Your valley is not meant for
22:52your doom. Your valley is meant for your
22:55deliverance.
22:57>> Oh, somebody's got to hear me in the
22:59Holy Ghost today. The devil has been
23:01haunting you. the devil has been telling
23:03you or maybe you're triggering your own
23:06trauma and PTSD in the church of the
23:09living God to say, "I've tried this
23:11before, but I've fallen on my face. But
23:14God sent me to tell somebody today that
23:17your valley is not for your defeat. Your
23:20valley is not for your destruction. Your
23:23valley is for your deliverance.
23:27It's going to get you from here
23:30to here to here. Nobody's going to get
23:34in your way. No adversary is going to
23:37stop your praise. No devil is going to
23:40stop your dominion if you'll get up on
23:42your feet and lift your voice today and
23:45say, "God has given me a word." But he
23:48didn't just give me a word. He gave me a
23:51way.
23:53I'm coming out of this. I'm going to
23:55come out of this with joy unspeakable
23:57and full of glory. I'm coming out of
23:59this and I'm coming out of this with
24:01raised hands. I'm coming out of this.
24:03I'm not bound. I'm going to be blessed.
24:06I'm coming out of this. I'm not going to
24:07be calloused, corrupted, or compromised.
24:10I'm going to be more than a conqueror
24:12through him that loved me. Somebody lift
24:15your hands and shout unto the Lord and
24:18say, "My God is leveling the praying
24:21field."
24:24Somebody lift your hands and pray right
24:26now. Lord, you know what I've been
24:28facing. You know what I've been
24:29fighting. You know the attack against my
24:32finances. You know the attack against my
24:35family. You know the attack against my
24:37faith. I'm not going to walk out of here
24:39crippled. I'm not going to walk out of
24:41here wounded and bitter. I'm not going
24:43to walk out of here limp and feeling
24:45unloved and overlooked. I'm going to
24:48walk out of here knowing that with a
24:49prayer prayed in the presence of God
24:52today, he will have leveled it. He will
24:55have brought the mountain down and
24:57raised up the valley. He will have made
24:59the crooked straight and the rough
25:01places plain. God is going to do it for
25:04somebody that feels like you can't take
25:07another step. You can't live another
25:09hour. You don't know how to pray another
25:11prayer. but in the presence of a holy
25:14God in this house.
25:21Jesus name in Jesus name. Be seated for
25:25a moment. Praise God.
25:30Sometimes you can get confused when
25:32you're headed somewhere cuz somebody
25:34gave you directions like, "Well, if you
25:36go down there, you're going to see a cow
25:38leaning up against the old fence post
25:40and just beyond that is the three-legged
25:44water tower." How many's ever been given
25:46the water tower directions?
25:50And if you go past that, you've gone too
25:51far because just before that, you know,
25:55about about a half a mile, which is
25:58really three miles.
26:00It's a gravel road, but that's not where
26:03you turn.
26:06They always give you stuff you ain't
26:08supposed to do.
26:10You know, if you get too far down the
26:12road and you see so and so truck stop,
26:14well, you've gone a 100 miles out of the
26:16way. You couldn't give me signs better
26:18than that before I got that far.
26:21Everybody in here at some point or
26:22another has been given bad directions.
26:24You know why? Cuz you listen to
26:26directions from somebody who ain't even
26:27never been there.
26:31I mean, why is somebody going to come
26:32and ask me how to get somewhere in South
26:35Florida and I ain't even ever been
26:36there? I don't even know the name of
26:38that street, but I start pretending.
26:42Well, you get on 55 South. Well, y'all
26:44don't even have 55 South around here.
26:46That's over there in Memphis.
26:49I'm making a point. You know why some of
26:52you are frustrated?
26:54You've been listening to the wrong voice
26:56give you the wrong directions.
27:00>> Well, praise the Lord. I didn't sneak up
27:02on you. I told you he was going to level
27:04the playing field. You know, one thing
27:06that levels the praying field when I
27:08sacrifice my pride and give up my human
27:10stubbornness and stop listening to the
27:13wrong voice and come back and say, "You
27:14know what? My pastor just preached on
27:16this a month ago. I think I'll follow
27:18those instructions.
27:20You know, the man of God just came
27:22through here, that evangelist, he he
27:23preached that message about six weeks
27:25ago or six months ago, and there's
27:27something that's been highlighted in a
27:29text because maybe at that particular
27:31time, you didn't need it. But all of a
27:33sudden, now you're facing the storm and
27:35the stress that was preached about some
27:38time ago, but you've already got the
27:40instructions, and you can be inspired
27:43with those instructions. I'm not off
27:45course. I'm not losing my mind. I
27:48haven't fallen off the wagon. But in the
27:51power of God, I'm going to get to my
27:53destination.
27:55And I don't have to listen to the voices
27:57of this hour because secular voices are
28:01not going to interrupt my spiritual
28:03understanding. If I'm going to have
28:06spiritual understanding, I need to come
28:08back to what thus sayaith the Lord. The
28:11mouth of the Lord has spoken it. And if
28:14God's word has declared it, who's going
28:17to stop it?
28:21>> I said, if God's word has declared it,
28:24who's going to stop it? Is there a devil
28:27that can stop it? Is there a secular
28:30voice that can stop it? Is there a human
28:32that can stop it? Is there an
28:34engineering of man that can stop it? Is
28:37there an invention of darkness that gets
28:39If God has determined and declared that
28:43you're going to have victory, then you
28:46need to say, "My God has leveled the
28:49praying field." I'm just going to come
28:51back to the altar and pray one more time
28:55cuz I believe God has me headed in the
28:59right direction.
29:01There was a time when the Babylonians
29:04came in around 586 BC and ransacked the
29:07temple, destroyed it, took all the
29:09treasures, carried it back. They even
29:12took Zedekiah, who was the king at the
29:14time. And they put him in brass bonds
29:17and change and drug him some 900 miles
29:20back to Babylon
29:23only to put his eyes out where he would
29:25eventually die.
29:26And as the course of time would go,
29:29Cyrus the Great and the Persian Empire
29:32would release the Jews to go back to
29:34Israel and to begin the plans for
29:37rebuilding the temple.
29:40They spent about four years clearing the
29:43area out, laying the foundation,
29:47and they were had such great unity, and
29:51all of a sudden political opposition
29:52arose. local adversaries couldn't stop
29:55running their mouths and writing
29:57letters. And then discouragement set
29:59into the people until Ezra 4 and 1-4
30:02describes that the people that were
30:04trying to do the work for God became so
30:06discouraged because of the counsel of
30:09the enemy. They got to listening to the
30:11wrong voices and the vision died. And
30:14for 16 years, the foundation laid there
30:18get collecting dust and lizards and
30:20scorpions and snakes slithering across
30:21it. And nothing happened until finally a
30:25prophet stood up.
30:28Zechariah.
30:29And in Zechariah chapter 4 and about
30:32verse number seven, he said, "Who art
30:34thou, oh great mountain?" The prophet is
30:38speaking to the opposition to the
30:40building of the temple. The prophet was
30:42speaking to the political unrest and the
30:45local adversaries. He was preaching to
30:48those that did not have the DNA of
30:50dominion. They were not Jews, but they
30:53were antagonistic toward the people of
30:55God because they did not want that
30:57temple to be raised up out of the dust.
31:00But the prophet said, "Who art thou, oh
31:03great mountain, before Zeruable, thou
31:06shalt become a plain?
31:11I'm preaching to somebody who is the
31:13temple of God today. I'm not preaching
31:14about something that's even just coming
31:16futuristically in an escatological sense
31:19with a prophecy of a third temple being
31:22built. I'm preaching to somebody in this
31:23house. Know ye not that ye are the
31:26temple of God. And if some of you would
31:28stop letting the mountains of fear and
31:30intimidation get in your way, he would
31:32level the praying field and he would
31:35bring restoration to your temple.
31:39Somebody's going to say, "I'm gonna get
31:40my healing." Why? Because the book said
31:43before Zerubabel. You know what
31:44Zerubabel means? A descendant of Babel.
31:51It doesn't matter where you're born.
31:52It's what you believe.
31:55>> He was born in Babylon, but he was
31:58raised to believe the Bible.
32:01>> I don't care what your past is. I want
32:04to know where you're headed.
32:07I don't care what the devil said about
32:09you. I want to know how you're a threat
32:11to darkness today because you come out
32:15of Babylon and you are a believer of the
32:18Bible and God has some Zerubbabels in
32:21this hour who are descendants of the
32:24world, but they're going to rise up with
32:26a word.
32:31>> You may have a dark past. You may have
32:33skeletons in your closet and while
32:34everybody else is rumaging through your
32:36skeletons, they don't want you to find
32:37out about their skeletons. But thank God
32:39for the blood that took care of all of
32:41our skeletons and gave us the power of
32:44the Holy Ghost to where he could say,
32:46you know what I'm going to do? I'm going
32:47to take that mountain of opposition and
32:48I'm going to level it. It's going to
32:50become a plane. And the Bible said he
32:53shall bring forth the headstone thereof
32:55with shoutings crying grace, grace unto
32:59it. In other words, there's going to
33:01come an hour when the favor of God upon
33:04the blessed of the Lord are going to
33:06say, "Look how beautiful the fulfillment
33:09of God's word is back there in the dust,
33:13back there in waiting through the years
33:15and the decades of loneliness. But look
33:19what God has done."
33:23And the prophet went on to say,
33:24"Moreover, the word of the Lord came
33:25unto me, saying, the hands of Zerubable
33:27that have laid the foundation of this
33:29house. His hand shall also finish it."
33:33Can I preach to somebody today that God
33:35is not going to leave you high and dry?
33:37God is not going to leave you in the
33:38desert. God is not going to leave you in
33:40an arid and dry climate where you're
33:42parched and you feel like every prophecy
33:45and promise spoken to you has become a
33:47forgotten thing. He's trying to stir
33:49somebody up today to tell you that I
33:51have given you a word and that word is
33:53not dead. I gave you a promise and that
33:56promise is not dead. I spoke to you a
33:59prophecy and that prophecy is not dead.
34:01Uh my boy will come back to God. My son
34:04or daughter will be in this altar. I
34:07will see revival in my family. I will
34:10see a breakthrough in my finances. I
34:13will see God overcome every opposition
34:16in my life by the power and the
34:19authority of his name.
34:23>> Lift your hands across this place for a
34:25moment.
34:27>> Glory to God.
34:39>> You know what the scripture said? The
34:41scripture said
34:43repeating the hands of Zerubbable that
34:48have laid the foundation of this house,
34:50his hands shall also finish it. Then it
34:54said, what does it say? And thou shalt
34:55know that the Lord of hosts has sent me
34:59unto thee. Can I minister to somebody in
35:01the spirit today that has come up here
35:03in these altars? I feel this right now.
35:06You've had a word spoken to you, but it
35:08ain't come to pass yet. and you're
35:10listening to the whispers of hell and it
35:12might not even be a devil. You're just
35:14really intelligent. And in your
35:16intellectual analyzing of the situation,
35:19you've begun to believe maybe God didn't
35:21speak to me.
35:23>> Can I tell somebody God did speak to
35:25you? He's confirmed it through the man
35:27of God in your life. He's confirmed it
35:30in prayer meetings.
35:33But he didn't tell you that there won't
35:35be obstacles. He didn't tell you that
35:37there wouldn't be confrontations of
35:38evil. He did not tell you that there
35:41wouldn't be days when you would wonder
35:43in your discouragement whether God was
35:45going to do what he said he would do.
35:47>> How you think Zerubbabel and Joshua
35:49felt? The governor and the high priest
35:52walking by a a cold foundation that had
35:55no work done on it for 16 years.
35:59And the devil laughing at him. Look at
36:01you. Look at you. Put your confidence in
36:04God. And look, it ain't nothing
36:06happening. Ain't nothing getting built
36:07up. You ain't growing. You ain't going
36:09anywhere. You ain't got you ain't got
36:11nothing really. You got no purpose.
36:13You're just a slave to the past.
36:17But the prophet spoke and said, "That
36:19same Zerubable, old mountain of
36:22opposition that you've made fun of, he's
36:24going to level you and a man of God's
36:27going to finish what he started." And he
36:30said, "This is how you're going to know
36:31the Lord spoke to you when it comes to
36:34pass.
36:36In the meantime, some of you going to
36:38have to keep pressing. It ain't going to
36:40come to pass if you don't keep pressing.
36:43Paul said, "Forgetting those things
36:44which are behind me, what do I do? I go
36:46to another Sunday morning service."
36:49What do I do? I dress in my 80s retro
36:52and I go to church, no matter how bad I
36:55was feeling this morning, and I almost
36:56had an attitude that I wouldn't even do
36:58it. But now look at you. You have me so
37:01envious that I at least didn't put a big
37:03poof up here on my head or something or
37:06grow my hair out. I tried, but I could
37:07have grown my hair and had one of them
37:09good 80s mullets going.
37:14But you're here.
37:16Isn't it glorious to just let the enemy
37:17know every now and then, hey, I'm still
37:20here.
37:22You thought you was going to get me to
37:24wash out, but I'm still here. You
37:26thought in that last trial I wasn't
37:28going to keep seeking after the
37:29treasures of God, but I'm still here.
37:31You thought that that was really going
37:32to get me down when they run me down,
37:35talk bad about me, even some of my
37:37dearest friends betrayed me. Oh yeah,
37:39you've had your Judas and you've had
37:42your Benedict Arnolds, but thank God
37:44you're still in the presence of the Lord
37:46today on a Sunday morning.
37:51[Applause]
37:53Oh, blessed be the name of the Lord. And
37:56the way you going to find out God was
37:59telling the truth, you going to make it
38:01to the finish line. You're going to get
38:03to the fulfillment of the prophecy.
38:07But you got to keep praying and you got
38:09to show up another Sunday. And you got
38:12to lift your hands one more time. And
38:15you got to sing that chorus again. And
38:18you got to put another verse on the
38:19song. It might be verse number 20. Same
38:23song, 20th verse. But I'm going to keep
38:26singing until the Lord comes through.
38:32Lift your hands to him for a moment.
38:42Turn to somebody and tell them, "God's
38:43going to do it for my family."
38:46Turn to somebody else. say, "God's going
38:47to do it for my faith. God's going to
38:50touch my finances.
38:52God's going to touch my mind.
38:55I'm going to think clearly after I walk
38:56out of this house today that my God has
38:59spoken a word and reminded me once again
39:01that we're leveling up with Jesus." And
39:04it doesn't matter what mountain has been
39:05built or what valley I'm trudging
39:07through or how many twists and turns
39:09have been in my life or how many rough
39:11places I've come through. He's going to
39:13level the praying field. If I'll just
39:15keep calling on the name of the Lord, he
39:18is going to take me to my destiny. I
39:20don't know how many more miles. I'm like
39:22the little kid in the back seat. Are we
39:24there yet?
39:28>> Are we there yet?
39:30We've got half a mile down the road. Hey
39:33God, are we there yet?
39:36>> You're probably going to have to endure
39:37a few more things. But if you'll just
39:39stay on board, if you'll just keep
39:42traveling on the train, we going to get
39:44there. The track of truth has not lost
39:48its direction. You've just got to stick
39:50with it and say, "I'm on this thing. I'm
39:53in this church until the trumpet sounds,
39:55and I'm not quitting until it does."
40:02Now look, the the scripture said,
40:05"You're going to know that the Lord of
40:08hosts hath sent me unto you." I love
40:10this next verse. For who hath despised
40:13the day of small things, for they shall
40:17rejoice. What does it say? They shall
40:20see the plummet in the hand of
40:22Zerubbabel.
40:24You know what that means? That's the
40:26measuring.
40:29They're going to get encouraged because
40:30they're going to walk out there in a
40:32place that's been dusty and forgotten.
40:34They're going to say, "Hey, what's the
40:36what's the man of God doing? He's got
40:38his plumbing out there. He's measuring."
40:39Now, why? Cuz we're getting ready to
40:40build. We're getting ready to put
40:42something on top of this. We're getting
40:43ready. Let me tell you something. The
40:46plummet was in Zerubbable's hand.
40:49Don't let somebody come along and
40:50measure you differently.
40:53Don't let somebody come along who, you
40:55know, tells you it's a foot, but it's
40:57really a foot and a half because their
40:59measurement is off, their doctrine is
41:01off, their prophecy is off. I never give
41:03in to a thus sayaith the Lord if it
41:05contradicts the man of God in my life.
41:08At 57 years old and I've been preaching
41:10over 44 years, I'm not about now to
41:13start giving in to somebody that's got a
41:15shortcut doctrine.
41:18>> I don't want a Johnny come lately
41:20opinion. Give me a man of God that's
41:23been in this pull pit over 32 years.
41:25Give me a man and a woman of God who
41:27have proven themselves through storms
41:29and stresses and trials and troubles and
41:32they still have a testimony.
41:36No. No. He didn't put the plummet in the
41:39hand of the local adversaries. He put
41:42the measuring line in the hand of the
41:44man of God.
41:48Some of you need to say, "I don't care
41:50what the world says about me. Measure
41:53me,
41:55>> pastor. What do you see? Where have I
41:58grown?
42:01>> How do I truly measure up to success?"
42:04And the man of God has laid hand on your
42:06head and said, "God has anointed you for
42:09this, or God has appointed you for
42:11that." Don't you let the devil condemn
42:13you where the man of God is calling you.
42:18Somebody lift your hands and worship
42:20him. Worship the Lord right now. Say,
42:22"The plummet is in the hand of
42:24Zerubbable." Zerubbable's doing the
42:26measuring. And God is going to manifest
42:28to the one that's measuring. A building
42:31that will be complete. An anointing that
42:34will be victorious. A breakthrough that
42:36will be evident that God was the one
42:39that did it.
42:44So ruable. You know what it says? He
42:46said got to plummet his hand with those
42:49seven and talking about they are the
42:51eyes of the Lord which run to and fro
42:53through the whole earth. That's the
42:55discerning of God. I I I don't care what
42:58the interpretation of the enemy says. I
43:00I don't care what bad press I get. I
43:02don't care what negative stuff the enemy
43:04wants to dig up because that's, you
43:06know, the devil loves dirt anyway. Cuz
43:08when he got cursed to crawl on his
43:09belly, that's all he eats. That's why
43:11it's got dirt on everybody. I don't want
43:14to talk to somebody that all they have
43:16in their mouth is dirt. Stop talking to
43:18folks that have dirt in their mouth and
43:20dirt on everybody.
43:22You need to say, "I've heard from God
43:24and give me a word from God." And and
43:26the psalmist said, "I will bless the
43:28Lord at all times, and his praise shall
43:31continually be in my mouth." I don't
43:33have time for gossip. I'm too busy
43:36praising him.
43:38I don't have time for tearing somebody
43:40down. I'm too busy magnifying the Lord.
43:47Come on, Zerubbabel. Come on, oh
43:50worshipper of God. Come on, oh prayer
43:53warrior. This morning, God wants to do a
43:56restoration in the temple. And it could
43:59be your mind. It could be your body. It
44:02could be your spirit. But in the
44:04presence and in the prayerfulness of the
44:06child of God today, the Lord wants to do
44:10a work.
44:12>> Lift your hands across this place if you
44:14believe that.
44:26The mountain is coming down and the
44:28valley is coming up and the crooked
44:30place is being made straight and the
44:32rough places are being made plain
44:34because God is leveling. It was a little
44:37hard to pray a week ago or it was a
44:40little difficult to think that I could
44:41get in the dominion of God because I've
44:43been so down. I preached to somebody who
44:46is discouraged this morning. It's okay.
44:48You're in a safe place this morning
44:50because this is a refuge.
44:53This is a healing house. And I'm not
44:56talking about where they sell marijuana.
44:58We talk about Messiah around here. I
45:01don't need weed. I got the new wine. I
45:05don't need to be intoxicated
45:07with the
45:09unsettling substitutes of the world.
45:12I've been drunk on Jesus. How long has
45:15it been since you got drunk on Jesus?
45:18And you just didn't even care what was
45:21going on around you. You just wanted to
45:23party in the presence of God. And all of
45:26a sudden, what seemed so bad wasn't
45:30really that bad. Because in the power of
45:33his presence, he leveled it.
45:38[Applause]
45:40>> Where is that one today that's been
45:41discouraged? Lift your hands. Where is
45:43that one today that has just got a bad
45:46report from the doctor? Lift your hands.
45:49Where is that one today that's been told
45:52some really bad news? Or maybe you've
45:54been in a relationship conflict and it
45:56doesn't look reconcilable. But in the
45:58power of God's presence today, he's
46:01going to bring the mountains low and the
46:02valleys high and the crooked places
46:04straight and the rough places plain. And
46:06the glory of the Lord is going to be
46:08revealed. And God wants to do a
46:10restoration work in the house and he
46:12wants to do it with your temple. If you
46:14need the touch of God in your temple,
46:17I'm not preaching about something that's
46:1810,000 miles away. I'm preaching about
46:21somebody that's sitting in your seat and
46:24God needs to touch your temple today.
46:27Would you stand up on your feet and lift
46:29your hands to the Lord this morning and
46:31say, "Oh God, I've heard from the Lord.
46:36I've heard from the Lord. And what seems
46:39to be so negative and so discouraging,
46:43what seems to be that which could be
46:45defeat and destruction, oh God, I'm
46:49going to be blessed in your house this
46:51morning because God's going to level the
46:53praying field.
46:55Whosoever will that there there's no
46:58qualifications on that. There's no
47:00there's no entitlement answer to that.
47:03There's no buildup. Well, I've prayed
47:04and fasted so many. No, no. He said,
47:06"Whosoever will, let him call on the
47:08name of the Lord." Who am I reaching for
47:11right now in this house that the enemy
47:13has put such a mountain in front of you?
47:16Or you have been in such a valley of
47:18discouragement, fear, or anxiety, or you
47:21have been in the twists and turns and
47:23you don't even know where you really are
47:25in the trial of your life. I'm telling
47:27you, in the power of God, he has leveled
47:30it. He's bringing it down. And in a walk
47:33toward God today, he's going to give you
47:36a word.
47:38This altar's open. He's going to give
47:40you a word. This altar is open to a
47:43mama, to a daddy. He's going to give you
47:45a word. It's open to a sick soul. He's
47:48going to give you a word. He's He's
47:51speaking to a broken body. He's going to
47:53give you a word. He's speaking to a
47:55wounded soul. He's going to give you a
47:56word.
47:58He's going to give you a word to a an an
48:01a distraught emotion and to somebody
48:03that's been restless,
48:06wandering even in your own spirit. But
48:08oh, in the presence of God, I've got
48:10direction today. He's leveled the
48:12praying field. I'm getting close to him
48:15today. I'm going to take another step on
48:17this journey. What I thought was going
48:19to be difficult will not be as difficult
48:21when I give it to God and I surrender it
48:24to his dominion.
48:27what I thought was going to really stop
48:28me. No, no, no. I'm going to magnify the
48:31Lord. I'm going to give him my worship.
48:36That's it.
48:38That's it. Who's got that prayer? Who's
48:41got that calling out? You know what
48:44David said in Psalm 3? He said, "I cried
48:46unto the Lord with my voice and he heard
48:48me out of his holy hill."
48:51That's why in Psalm 121 he'd say, "I
48:53will lift up mine eyes unto the hills
48:55from which cometh my house be my help."
48:58Because that represented where the house
48:59of the Lord was. I'm not looking down.
49:03I'm not looking in grief. I'm looking in
49:06expectation that my God is on the way.
49:08My help is coming. Divine paramedics are
49:12on the way. The angels of the Lord are
49:14in this house to minister to the heirs
49:17of salvation. Why don't you come? Why
49:20don't you come? Broken heart,
49:23he's got a word for you. And maybe it's
49:25a word you've already received many
49:27times.
49:28It's the same encouragement.
49:31It's that same voice you've heard again
49:33and again. It's that same encouragement
49:36you've heard before.
49:39Oh God,
49:40what mountain are you facing? What
49:43impossibility are you facing? What
49:46circumstances
49:48still seem to be too difficult?
49:52Things that have mounted up,
49:55things that have built up instead of the
49:58edifying of faith. It's been the
50:00increasing of your fear. But in the
50:02presence of God now
50:05where he's leveling the praying field
50:07and you're talking to him about things
50:09that only God can fix, call upon him.
50:13Reach out to him right now. Shout, "Give
50:16it to you, Jesus. I give it to you. I
50:19give it to you."
50:26Oh Lord, I surrender.
50:29I give you my everything.
50:33My mind, my body, my spirit. I want to
50:36be whole. I want to be cleansed. I want
50:39to get close to you. I want to hear your
50:41word. I want to be delivered
50:44>> in the name of Jesus. Go ahead.