welcome today to our online internet
around the world church service i'm so
happy that you're here
and i believe that god has a word that
will build your faith
and that faith in god based upon his
word will empower you to be
the person that he has called you to be
and to do
the things that he has assigned for you
to do
praise god now before we jump into
today's message
let's take our holy bibles and go to a
verse that i'm sure some of you are
familiar with
but this verse is very timely i want you
to see it with your own eyes
psalm 115
and we're going to go to verse 14 and
i'm telling you that this is a very
timely verse for you
prophetically concerning the new year
that you're going into
or that you're already in and that is
going to unfold in this way in your life
i need you to believe it with me
i want you to be using your faith to see
this verse
take you in the levels of blessing that
you have never yet
seen but you're going to see them this
year and i'm not just talking about in
october or november
i'm talking about you're going to see it
start quickly
working very powerfully in your life now
this is psalm 115
verse 14 may the lord give you
increase now if it had just stopped
right there
that would have been marvelous praise
god but there's more
because that's the nature of god may the
lord give you increase
more and more
now last year in 2020
despite coronavirus
and despite all of the negativity
and the uncertainty and the fear
floating around
in america and in the world
despite all of that last year this
ministry
had the most successful year that we've
ever had
we had more growth we had more outreach
we had more provision come in ever in
the history of the ministry
last year we had tremendous growth and
we knew
that god was going to do it why pastor
stephen because
it's not based on luck or coincidences
it's not based on circumstances that
could be negative that would be in the
earth because you're always going to
have those
it's based upon a covenant
and that covenant will work for you
regardless
of what is taking place in the earth
i want you to believe that this year
that you have now entered into
is going to be the greatest year that
you have ever had financially
and that you're going to see the lord
give you
increase more and more
when you think that the lord has given
you increase and you think wow this is
amazing
you know what god's going to do he's
going to turn around and give even more
above that the lord is going to give you
increase
more and more now
what you need to do is set your faith
in agreement with what god has spoken in
his word
the prophetic anointing that is resting
upon
his word and you need to do your part
you need to engage the financial
covenant
with the lord on the you need to engage
god in finances on the platform of the
covenant
which is rooted in tithes
and offerings praise the lord we are
commanded
in scripture to honor the lord by
giving him the tenth the tithe is the
tenth
of our income we bring it into the
storehouse
the storehouse is the place where you
receive your spiritual
nourishment we bring it into the house
of god
and by doing so we obligate god
to engage in the covenant and god will
back you and take care of you
and not just meet your needs but also
touch those areas of hearts desires
in your life you're going to know the
overflow this year
in a way that you have never known it
before
now along with the tithe we also sow
offerings we give financial seed
and based upon that seed a harvest can
be reaped
back praise god and we thank god that
the holy spirit leads us
in the area of special offerings so
right now we're going to receive the
holy tithes
and the offerings praise the lord and
they will be used
in a very wise way to continue to spread
the gospel
and to expand the outreach
of this ministry that is preaching and
teaching the world
the word all over the world we're going
to increase we're going to do more
this year than we've ever done before
and we're doing it in a very strategic
way
under the anointing and guidance of the
holy spirit so that your dollar
can go as far as possible be used as
wisely as possible and make the maximum
impact of building up the church around
the world with
good solid teaching as well as bringing
the lost
to christ praise god
so this year is going to be a great year
of increase for this ministry and i know
that you're going to experience great
increase as well
praise the lord see paul said you are
partakers of my grace
when he spoke to his ministry partners
and i believe that the increase that's
upon this ministry
is touching your life as well and this
year
it's going to be different than anything
you've ever experienced before you are
going into new
uncharted financial territory regardless
of the shakings regardless of the
economic famines that could be here or
there
you're going to be walking in a covenant
with the lord
and you're like the salmon going
upstream
even when the things of the world the
current is going
downstream you're going to go upstream
praise god now believe it believe it
trust the lord
and honor him with the tithe and with
the offering praise god thank you lord
jesus
father we worship you as we bring the
tithes and the offerings into your
storehouse
we worship you knowing father that jesus
is
the high priest of our faith
and eternal melchizedek
and that he is still right now today he
is still
receiving the tithes thank you father
god
thank you for giving us this opportunity
to have such stability in our finances
praise god father in jesus name we pray
and agree
amen praise the lord praise god
now those of you that prefer to mail in
your tithes and offerings please send
them to stephen brooks international
p.o box 717 moravian falls
north carolina the zip code is 28654
again 28654
if you like would like to bring them in
online
it's very safe very secure highly
encrypted you can do so please visit
the ministry website stevenbrooks.org
and there on the website on the home
page there is a link a tab
that says give it has a red heart and
you can click on that
and bring your tithes and offerings in
regardless of where you live in the
world
you can go there and they would be sent
right into
the ministry storehouse praise god
father bless your people
bless your people with increase more and
more
now father we thank you for it and this
this increase is going to overflow even
as your word says
not only not only to them but to them
and their children
we give you praise father we give you
praise
that there's no lack in your kingdom
there is no lack
so we thank you father god it's not like
you're going to run out of the ability
to bless
or it's not like you're going to run out
of money
we thank you father god for endless
supply
now we rejoice in your provision in
jesus name
amen praise the lord now
let's take our bibles and let's go over
to the book
of ezra we're going to be in ezra
chapter 8
praise the lord we're going to start in
verse 21
praise god ezra chapter 8 verse 21 i
want to talk today about the revealing
of heavenly messages
how you can slip into this
realm of being able to pick these things
up from god
that you just need to know hallelujah
there are
sovereign moments when the lord chooses
to visit you
through a supernatural experience but we
don't want it to be something
that's only once every 40 years
we would like for it to be something
where
yes we're always open to the sovereign
moves of the spirit of god
but also where we can cooperate
with the holy spirit and be attentive
to to receive more frequent messages
that
requires a spiritual sensitivity
in order to be able to pick up
especially when you really
want to know that's what we're going to
be talking about today let's pray
heavenly father as we're going into your
word we ask
that your holy spirit who was
represented
by the menorah the lamps
burning on top of the menorah there in
the tabernacle and temple structure of
the old testament
that that same light would burn today
and give us illumination
thank you father the spirit of wisdom
and revelation be given to our
eyes of our understanding that we can
understand your ways and walk in them
thank you father god on a
well-illuminated path of truth
we rejoice in your word thank you for
the ministry of your spirit
in jesus name we pray we all agree
and say amen praise god
ezra chapter 8
verse 21 then i proclaimed a fast
so this is not a individual fast
this is not just ezra saying i'm going
to do some fasting
this is maybe what we would call a
corporate fast in other words
it's it's not just for one person it's
for the whole group
i proclaimed a fast there at the river
of ahava
that we might humble ourselves before
our god
who is we we
would be in this case the jews
in babylon who are willing to go back
to jerusalem and the lord has stirred
the heart
of king cyrus to allow them safe passage
now he's not sending armed guards with
them or a or soldiers with them
but he is allowing them to go and he is
even
releasing certain of the temple
treasures that were taken
in the captivity he's allowing them to
take that back
and not only is ezra going with some
good israelites but they've got
priests and levites in the group
this really is exciting this this is
saying that
hey we could get temple worship going
again back in jerusalem
yes that is the plan so there's a lot
writing on this journey then i
proclaimed a fast
there at the river of ahava that we
might humble ourselves before our god to
seek from him the right way
for us and our little ones and all
our possessions now
this is a long trip
this is actually 900 miles
well now pastor stephen i looked at it
on a map and it says it's only
you know like 350 miles yeah if you cut
right through the middle of a desert
but nobody did that you can't you can't
survive
out in the middle of a desert like that
so you have to
kind of skirt around the edges of it so
it was
a 900-mile journey
stop and think about that just for a
moment the distance
and there are a lot of dangers
involved there were a lot of bandits
and people that would ambush you and
and kill you and take your money take
you know just do bad things to your
uh it's just a lot of that stuff going
on out in those areas that
didn't have police didn't have what we
would call
law and order it's it's you know you
just have to be tough and rugged
and hope that you can get through but on
a journey that long
in a sense with a lot of vulnerability
where you have women that are going and
you're having
uh you know it's not like usually the
priest and levites are warriors you know
what i mean
so you have a lot of vulnerability and
you have some very wealthy objects too
and the king has loaded them up with
provision so they've got
they've got some gold a pretty good
amount of gold and they're going out
into the this long journey there's a lot
riding on this journey and as you're
going
into this year as this year is beginning
may i suggest there's a lot riding on it
and i believe that if you
set it up the right way that not only
will you get through the year and as we
would say
make it to jerusalem but i believe that
you will reach
your destination and that you will have
lost
nothing but you will be refreshed
and ready for the next assignment that
the lord has for you
and that you will be positioned to be
in the glory praise god
thank you jesus but it starts there by
the river of ahava
with some humility and one of the
greatest expressions
in scripture of humility is not just
prayer
but prayer combined with fasting
now i'm talking today about the
revealing of
heavenly messages praise the lord
verse 22 for i ezra
was ashamed to request of the king
an escort of soldiers and horsemen to
help us against the enemy on the road
yes my friends there were enemies on the
road as i just mentioned
because we had spoken to the king saying
the hand of our god
is upon all those for good who seek him
but his power
and this wrath are against all those
who forsake him so we fasted and
entreated our god for this
and he answered our prayer
in other words ezra had made some
boasting
before the king of how are faithful and
how god
uh how good he really is
and while he's making that boast he
wants to
make sure that
there's no room for error so he's going
to take extra precautionary measures
and he and the whole group are going to
humble themselves
before the lord why this
is an extraordinary journey they're
going on
my friends this year is an extraordinary
journey
that you're about to start i feel like
i'm standing right now
at the river ahava talking to you
and when we get to jerusalem it's going
to be great
but we've got a ways to go and along the
way
god's going to increase you god's going
to bless you god's going to reveal
himself to you
you're going to have quite a time but i
i want you to know
that humility is very important in the
eyes of god
and when you walk in this realm of
humility
there is a there is a flow that you can
get in
where information from heaven reaches
your spiritual ears reaches your
spiritual eyes
that otherwise may have escaped you
and so we want to approach this in a in
a humble way
so we fasted and entreated our god for
this and he answered
our prayer now pastor stephen what i
would like for you to do there is you
stand at the river ahava i would like
for you to call a corporate feast
together
that we may all assemble and discuss the
itinerary of the journey
as we eat pizza and as we drink
coca-cola
and as we eat cheesy garlic breadsticks
and as we finish it off with a a
healthful serving
of ice cream strawberry shortcake and
then
then we shall begin the journey well
there is a place for pizza parties don't
get me wrong
i enjoy food i have taste buds on my
tongue
just like you do but there is something
that when you humble yourself
particularly before the beginning of a
journey
and as we're going on the journey into
this new year that's fraught with
dangers
and we're all as we're already hearing
about new strains of the covet covet 21
and etc
and other types of things governmental
uncertainties
uh rumors of wars uh what's iran
up to seems like they're building up
that nuclear uh
arsonage again uh a lot lot of things
going on over there
you know so there's a lot cooking and
god's got big plans for you
so i would go into it humbly praise god
you may want to consider i would suggest
that you do
some fasting with prayer praise the lord
thank you jesus so we fasted and
entreated our god for this
and he answered our prayer
let's move over to verse 31.
then we departed from the river of ahava
on the 12th day of the first month
to go to jerusalem and remember 900
miles and the hand of our god was upon
us
and he delivered us from the hand of the
enemy i'm sure there were
those that wanted to do them harm i'm
sure there were occasions
where there was miraculous deliverance
but it says that he delivered us from
the hand of the enemy
and from the ambush along the road
so we came to jerusalem and stayed there
three days
they made it and so will you
but my friends let's take precautionary
measures
let's go into this year with great faith
let's go into this year with expectancy
let's go into this year with vision of
where we're supposed to go they knew
where they're hitting they're heading
towards jerusalem if you don't know
where you're going you're never going to
get there
we know where we're going we're on task
we're on assignment
we are focused on expanding the kingdom
of the lord through the preaching of the
gospel to all the nations
praise god hallelujah thank you jesus
and we know that the lord is going to
bless us praise the lord
but i do believe that there are ambushes
that the enemy has already set but i
believe that as we walk with the lord
and dedicate the initial part of this
year towards him
i believe that we're going to go right
through everything we're going to go
right around it right through it become
invisible whatever the case might be
we're going to reach our destiny and
it's going to be the greatest year that
we've had
yet praise god but my friends i would
ask you to consider setting some time
aside
before the lord maybe you would like to
fast and pray maybe for three days
maybe for two days maybe longer maybe
longer
it says here that they sought the lord
and i believe that what they had carried
out was
a three-day time of fasting and prayer
praise the lord it's good
to humble ourselves before the lord
so that the lord's blessing
is there in its fullest potential praise
god
thank you jesus let's continue on now
to the prophet daniel daniel chapter 9
verse 1 in the first year of darius
the son of a hazaris of the lineage of
the medes
who was made king over the realm of the
chaldeans
in the first year of his reign i daniel
understood by the books of the number of
the years
specified by the word of the lord
through jeremiah the prophet
that he would accomplish 70 years in the
desolation
of jerusalem then i set my face toward
the lord god
to make requests by prayer and
supplications
with fasting sackcloth and ashes
what is daniel doing well he has read
the scroll of the prophet jeremiah and
jared
jeremiah had prophesied that the
israelites
would go in the captivity and they did
not only did he say hey you're going in
the captivity told the king and to all
all the people you're going to go into
captivity and they did
he even told them how long they would be
in
captivity for well daniel
being a scholar of scripture
had read that and he had understanding
oh we're at that time
whoa we're at that fulfilled time where
the 70 years
is up and god's going to be doing some
special things
so he set his face in other words he had
a determination and a focus
and he entered into prayer and fasting
why
he wanted answers he wanted further
insight into
what god was doing at that moment praise
the lord
and the lord answered him
let's go over now to verse 20. he
continues
now while i was speaking praying and
confessing my sin
and the sin of my people israel and
presenting my supplication
before the lord my god for the holy
mountain of my god
that of course would be jerusalem mount
moriah yes while i was speaking in
prayer
the man gabriel whom i had seen in the
vision
at the beginning being caused to fly
swiftly reached me about the time of the
evening offering and he informed me and
talked with me and said oh daniel
i have now come forth to give you skill
to understand now the message again
today is called the revealing of
heavenly messages
if i would have titled this message
fasting
very few people i'm talking about very
few christians
would listen to it because there is a
uh there's something in our fleshly
nature that abhors
fasting i can understand that it's no
fun to fast
so sometimes when we see fasting
presented there's a there's an immediate
pullback
almost like a uh clamming up i don't
want to hear about that
but i want to come at it from a
different angle
that if you will fast and pray
you make yourself very open to receiving
heavenly messages why
because your spirit becomes very tender
and
your spirit becomes very sensitive
i know that there are times when you're
fasting
that is absolutely no fun
you think about food you missed
you you miss not only the taste
sensation
you even miss the texture of food uh
and all of that is good in the sense
because when you do eat later
you're just like wow food never tasted
so good
but while you're going through that and
you do have those moments
of what i would maybe call yucky days or
yucky moments yet at the same time
you will have those moments where
your soulish
fleshly nature becomes
totally quiet totally still
it gets so still it's like being out on
a body of water like a lake
when there's not one bit of wind
and you're like on a sea of glass and
everything is
ultra calm and smooth and that
is what happens with your soul at times
when you fast and pray
praise the lord hallelujah you come into
a realm
where you can discern between spirit
and flesh and more importantly
and it takes more fine-tuning you come
into a place where you can discern
between
spirit and soul hallelujah
now remember the soul can be very
intertwined
with the flesh and the flesh can affect
the soul
you could even pray soulish fleshly
prayers
but when you get real still and real
quiet and the
the word helps discern between the two
and the holy spirit is anointing that
word you can pick up clearly
what's completely spirit
and daniel would get himself into those
places
i'm here to encourage you to
fast and pray and position yourself
in those places and then it's very easy
to yield
to these heavenly encounters when they
begin
coming in your direction praise god
let me give you an example of the
difference
between a man who prays and fast
and somebody else who may have a deep
reference for god and love the lord
but they don't and i want to show you
how
remarkable the difference can be in
receiving
something from heaven let us continue
with chapter 10 we're now in daniel
chapter 10 verse 1.
in the third year of of cyrus king of
persia
a message was revealed to daniel whose
name was called belt the shazar the
message was true
but the appointed time was long and he
understood the message
and had understanding of the vision
in those days i daniel was mourning
three full weeks
i ate no pleasant food no meat or wine
came into my mouth
nor did i anoint myself at all till
three whole weeks were fulfilled
verse seven and i daniel alone
saw the vision now he he describes in
between these verses a vision
that appeared to him a vision
there's three types of visions the
lowest level of vision
and when i say low it doesn't mean that
it's it doesn't have quality to it
i would maybe a better phrase would be
the most common
type of vision would be a spiritual
vision
where your eyes are closed and maybe
you're in prayer
or you're relaxing and suddenly on the
image screen of your mind
you begin to see something and you're
not making it up
it's just it's starting to like unfold
before you and you're seeing it and if
you open your eyes it's not there
but if you close your eyes again you're
seeing it okay that's a vision but that
is a spiritual vision
the next highest form of vision after a
spiritual vision
is what's called in the bible a trance
and peter talks about how he
fell into a trance and when you fall
into a trance when you go into a trance
you're not even aware of your physical
surroundings in a sense you're not aware
what kind of shoes you have on you're
not even aware what clothes you're
wearing
you're not aware of any of that you're
just over in the spirit suddenly
and that's what a trance is the
suspending of your physical senses
and you're completely over in the spirit
you don't even know if your eyes are
open closed or anything like
that you're just in the spirit the
highest
form of vision the third type of vision
and there are three types of visions
revealed in scripture the highest form
would be an open vision
where with your eyes completely open
i'm talking about your physical eyes the
lord is
allowing you to see a spiritual vision
through your physical eyes
so both elements are engaged your
physical eyesight
and also your spiritual eyesight
i have had some open visions they're
they're unforgettable i've had open
visions before when talking to people
and i can see
uh right into them just like god can
it's it's like the lord is looking
through me he's using my eyes to look
through me
and that's deserting the spirits one of
the nine gifts of the holy spirit
that gift is in manifestation when that
happens
and it's very interesting when it
happens when your eyes are open and
you're you're talking and they they
can't
they don't they don't know that suddenly
you're you've become like a literal
superman where you have this
x-ray vision and you could see right
into this
you could see uh the stronghold you you
can see
uh whatever the lord is showing you it's
it's quite an interesting experience
and other times i've been able to see
with my eyes open into the spirit realm
and have seen uh the glories of god
certain wonders of heaven and so forth
things along that line
praise the lord but here we see that the
prophet
daniel he alone saw the vision
why because he's the one that's really
pressing in
with the fastings and the prayer and his
spirit
is just more highly developed you could
say it's
it's more sensitive just like in the
natural you can lift weights
and you can get very very strong in the
natural you can get real strong in the
natural well you can do that with your
spirit
you can develop your spirit where you're
stronger in your spirit than somebody
else
even as a believer yet you could develop
your spirit real strong
praise god thank you jesus
and i daniel alone saw the vision for
the men who were with me did not see the
vision
but a great terror fell upon them so
they fled to hide themselves
well the other men while they did not
have that development to see that vision
they still could sense this incredible
presence
a holy awesome presence that had just
come on the scene
now when angels come directly from
heaven
into the earth realm with a message for
you
they are saturated
with that atmosphere of heaven it can
make you feel like your knees are about
to give out it can make you feel like
your legs are about to give out
there have been times i've just
completely fallen literally to the
ground i couldn't stand up
why they are carrying the very
atmosphere of heaven it's on them
it's it's the glory of god that's on
them and so when they come to deliver
the message
they are enveloped in that glory that
heavenly atmosphere and it's
permeating off of them and it's it's
coming into you it's touching you it's
affecting you
um you could begin to suddenly feel like
you're inebriated
you just feel light and you start losing
strength
praise the lord thank you jesus
verse 8 therefore i was left alone
when i saw this great vision and no
strength remained in me for my
vigorous turn to frailty in me and i
retained
no strength some of you are going to
have these types of encounters
now when you fast and pray
you cannot force god
to grant you a vision you cannot force
the holy spirit to move
but having said that when you fast and
pray
you do position yourself
in a much better position
to receive the
opening of the supernatural the ability
to seer
to see or hear in the spirit realm the
ability the taste
touch or smell in the spirit realm
so this is a position a positioning i've
known quite a few people that
that have had a struggle in receiving
the baptism in the holy spirit but when
i've instructed them
or instructions are given go fast for
three days
and then come back and let's take it
from the top
then they come back and i do a little
more teaching it's
much much easier for them to receive
the same thing also if you're if you're
struggling to receive a healing
and you know the scriptures and you know
the promises of god
and maybe you're even in a meeting
there's a strong healing and anointing
but yet it's just that the anointing is
not connecting what's going on
well i would encourage i would encourage
some extra time be set aside for prayer
and fasting
and then after that then come into a
meeting and you'll just be like
wow this is amazing i remember
when i was in my mid-20s
i had just been filled with the holy
spirit about a year
earlier and i went to a meeting with the
world famous evangelist
and when he was ministering in the
service
when he would he would take his hand and
say
receive and i could see my eyes opened
up in the spirit
and when he would say receive or when he
would say take it
i could see waves of white
it's it seemed like it was liquid white
glory
come out of his hands and go over the
people
and one time he turned to one segment of
the audience
and he said those of you over here he
said stand up and he said get ready the
holy spirit's going to come over you and
he said receive
and when he said receive i saw come out
of his hands
that white anointing it was like glory
coming out
and as it hit the people they would fall
now the people couldn't see it uh uh
unless you your eyes were open and you
were
you were picking that up you couldn't
see it why because this is the spirit
realm
but they would not fall until it hit
them but the moment
it would kind of like it was like a wave
the moment it would hit them they would
fall
praise the lord well maybe they couldn't
see it but i'm sure
they could sense it because when it
would hit you would just go over you and
whoo and go into you and it would uh and
in situations like that the the easiest
way to receive that is just
just kind of go with it just lay back
praise the lord
thank you jesus therefore i was left
alone when i saw this great vision
and no strength remained in me for my
vigor was turned to frailty in me
and i retained no strength
by the way when i went into that meeting
and saw that vision
i saw all the holy spirit moving in all
these ways because my eyes
spiritual eyesight had opened up i had
fasted for five days
with no food just juice no food at all
just mainly orange juice orange juice
drinking orange juice every day
and went to that meeting was expecting
anything to happen but i was just like
wow i was like i i i could see all of
these things going on in the spirit
realm
praise the lord verse 9
yet i heard the sound of his words and
while i heard the sound of his words i
was in a deep sleep on my face
with my face to the ground and then he
goes on to talk about
a hand touching him so there is seeing
and then there is hearing and then there
is the
the sense of touch all of these natural
senses
experiencing in the spirit realm
praise the lord and so when you fast and
pray
you just make yourself much more
sensitive
to be able to being able to respond
when that anointing is there you'll pick
up on it when others
that don't pray they don't really devote
themselves to the lord
they won't pick up on it at all and
you'll pick up on it you you'll
absolutely pick up on it praise the lord
now there is a place in my life and let
me preference
this by saying it's different for
everybody but there's a there's a place
in my life as a minister
where when i fast and pray and i
reach a certain day and it's not day one
and it's not day two
but there is a place where i reach a
certain day
i kind of slip into this realm
where this stuff starts opening up
and i could i could sense with fine
detection the flow of the holy spirit
i could literally sit in a meeting and i
can tell
whether or not the holy spirit likes the
song that's being sung
and there's times i can sense he doesn't
like the song
oh pastor stephen god loves all of our
worship god loves
look you get in the spirit and you'll
realize
uh there is a lot of mixture sometimes
in our services where we can have a lot
of uh
human effort and human zeal
all mixed in with trying to serve and
trying to please the lord and we think
it's all wonderful
and god loves us but a lot of it can be
childish
a lot of it can be in the flesh a lot of
it can have good intentions
but it's it's just totally off to mark
it's not the song it's not the moment
it's not the message it's
it and and there could be other times
where you're hitting it and
you're all in well what happens when
you're you're hitting it you're in the
flow
well the glory the presence of the lord
will begin to come in
but that's very very real i i talked
with
a worship leader and
they they had decided along with the
pastor of that church
to just do a like an all-day worship
service
and just worship the lord and uh so they
they
just went all day long all day long
and it was nice you could sense the
lord's presence
but nothing that you would call still
extraordinary happened
until right when they got to the last
song
and they they decided let's push and
give god
one more song we've been singing songs
to him all day long
let's make one more push we're all wore
out all of our voices are tired
our fingers are tired from guitars and
we're all tired let's give one more song
and the worship leader launches into one
more song
and the pastor said he was sitting there
and he's picking up
no that's not the song that's not the
song that the holy spirit wanted
and so he just he kind of just like
finally broke in and told the worship
leader said no
that's not it sing this one and they all
started singing that one song
and when they sang that song god
the lord jesus christ walked into the
room
and it well one of the first things that
happened is that one of the worship
leaders who was standing on the platform
ran and jumped behind the piano i mean
jesus
walked in a vision you couldn't you
couldn't see seem
unless of course you your eyes went into
a vision but you could sense that
phenomenal presence he walked into the
room and it
it was from then on it was it was off
the charts
everything was off the charts it was an
unforgettable moment unforgettable
moment for everybody in that meeting
praise the lord but yes you could be
singing a song that
i mean i'm not saying you we should like
just let's sing sing a song about mickey
mouse because it doesn't matter if god's
not on it
no it's just tried tried to pick up that
flow
hallelujah thank you jesus well now
we've already got it all planned out
that
and that's good to have planning but the
planning preferably should be made
with prayerful consideration thank you
jesus there are
let me see if i can say this
the right way praise god i've been in
because i've done so much itinerant
ministry
countless meetings in churches all over
america and around the world
there are some worship leaders
particularly if the worship leader is
also the pastor
where they feel like uh if there's a
special audience maybe it's a special
event
they feel like that's their moment to
show off their their ability to
do music really well and they'll present
all the songs that they wrote and they
they're basically trying to give a
demonstration of how developed their
worship team is and they're not even
thinking about
what does god want to hear they just
want to show the people what they can do
and uh having to come up and minister
after that is you're just starting from
ground zero that's really what you're
having to do because all it was was a
production
that's all it was it was just a
production
and god looks at it smiles and he
appreciates their heart he appreciates
their effort
but was it pure incense rising up before
him no not at all
not at all praise god but you know what
you can't even filter that stuff out
if you're in the flesh all the time and
i'm not saying you don't love the lord
most people that do these things deeply
love the lord but you you can't even
pick up on
where it splits if you're not
endeavoring to move into that deeper
walk with the lord but there is a day
that whenever i fast and pray when i get
into this certain day right around it
it all starts opening it up and i can
sit in the meeting
and i can tell instantly instantly the
holy spirit likes this song he
and jesus is being glorified in this
song that's what the holy spirit's
trying to do he's trying to get the
worship to go to jesus
and to the father in the name of jesus
so he's trying to help us you know go in
the right direction
whoo praise the lord mm-hmm
when you get into that realm you can
tell
you can tell the authentic you can tell
the difference between gold and brass
i'm talking about worship i'm talking
about
everything that's said and it's amazing
in meetings like that when i get into
that realm even if it's not a meeting
just walking in that you know even if
i'm not ministering
if somebody gives a tongue and they have
a message in tongues
instantly instantly that that
interpretation just starts coming to me
no struggle oh we've got to make
something up we've got to cover that
person
they gave a public tongue for somebody i
sure hope somebody's got the
interpretation
it just comes no strain
no struggle just stand up or sit there
and say this is what the lord said
through that
and give that tongue that tongue
interpretation and
everybody the moment they hear it
blessed everybody know that
was like a glove fitting over
a hand perfectly praise god
praise god but this this realm eludes a
lot of
god's people because they
they never stop at the river ahava and
take
time to humble themselves oh pastor
stephen i've got this
no problem i've got this god stand back
and watch me
whoo look all i'm saying
there's a lot of ambushes there are
enemies
that are very real threats i think we
should
give god our best we should trust the
lord not we're not going to be in fear
but let's just humble ourselves look to
the lord hallelujah
glory to god we're going to make it
jerusalem we're going to do everything
god's called us to do
hallelujah
thank you jesus hallelujah
glory to god um get ready for your
spiritual journey
get ready to seek the lord acts chapter
13
verse 1. now in the church
that was at antioch there were certain
prophets
and teachers barnabas
simeon who was called niger
lucius of cyrene manian who had been
brought up with herod the tetrarch
and saul as a minister to the lord
and fasted notice that's in your bible
they minister to the lord
and they also fasted praise god
what does it mean to minister to the
lord just
take some time aside to spend time
worshiping the lord lord we love you
think about these mighty men all
together worshiping god
lord we love you we praise you we bless
you and setting
time aside just to honor the lord
worship god
and do it with fasting
when you do things like that you are
positioning
yourself like daniel did like ezra did
to receive heavenly insight
heavenly messages things that you need
to know
getting through to you praise god that
otherwise
may have eluded you if you had not made
those preparations if you had not taken
that
position of humility
thank you jesus then having fasted and
prayed
well let me finish verse two as they
ministered to the lord in fashion the
holy spirit said
now set apart to me barnabas and saul
for the work to which i have
called them the holy spirit said well
how did he say that
did somebody stand up in that group with
the prophetic utterance and say
the holy spirit says we need to do this
perhaps or maybe he spoke to
the three and the three all got it at
the same time and said
we need to lay hands on these two
because god wants to send them out
so there's different ways that it could
have come
but the main thing is is that that word
came
and they were in a position a fasting in
prayer and they received a beautiful
heavenly message praise god then having
fasted and prayed and laid hands on them
they sent them away so being sent out by
the holy spirit they went down the
seleucia
and from there they sailed to cyprus
and thus the apostolic ministry
of paul of barnabas is launched
where previously they had walked in the
teaching ministry
previously having walked in prophetic
ministry
now being separated by the holy spirit
into the apostolic ministry and
commissioned by god
and acknowledged by leaders they
are sent out makes all the difference in
the world
when the lord sends you as compared to
when
you endeavor to send yourself
thank you jesus hallelujah glory to god
and so i would say position yourself to
minister
to the lord but prayer
with fasting and watch
what god will do again you can't make
the lord say something
but i believe there are things that he
wants
to share sometimes it comes during the
time of prayer and fasting
other times the lord can speak
afterwards
when the fast has been completed but
either way
position yourself to receive these
messages
wow praise god thank you jesus
i think we set aside these times
especially
when we sense there is an essential
message that god wants to get to us
there's something in this season we need
to know and it's times like that you
make
special allocation for time spent
with the lord praise god
thank you jesus acts chapter 27
let's go down to verse 21
well verse 20. now when neither son nor
stars appeared for many days and no
small tempters
beat upon us all hope that we would be
saved was finally
given up they're out in the middle of
the mediterranean
they're in the middle of a storm and
it's a roller coaster of a ride
up and down sideways this way that way
and looked like they were going to die
because the storm was not abating
but after long abstinence from food
stephen this looks like a forest fast
yep no need to eat anything you're just
going to feed the fish if you do
what that means you get seasick because
it's just too difficult
and nobody can cook because it's it's
total pandemonium
just all you can do is lay down and try
to ride this storm out
and it looked like they're all going to
die
now what
does the bible which is the inspired
word of god
consider a long fast to be and i'm not
saying that you need to do a long fast
but what would the bible consider a long
fast to be
verse 21 but after long abstinence
from food then paul stood in the midst
of them and said
men you should have listened to me and
not have sell from crete
and encured this disaster and loss
and now i urge you to take heart for
there will be no loss
of life among you but only of the ship
for there stood by me
this night an angel of the god to whom i
belong in whom i serve
well even though it was a forced fast
paul just used it for the benefits
of fasting and prayer to position
himself
to hear from god concerning this crazy
situation
that he's in and he can't he can't
control it he can't help it that he was
taken along for the ride he tried to say
hey this is not a good idea
this is a terrible idea we're going to
lose everything even if our li
potentially losing our lives if we do
this crazy trip
they took the trip anyhow they overrode
him
but now because of the fast that they
had to go through
paul just said well might as well use it
for good and he fasted and and he prayed
and sure enough sure enough he received
heavenly insight a message from heaven
and look i believe
that if you will position yourself
that god will share things with you
that are important for you to know
praise god for there stood by me this
night an angel of the god to whom i
belong and
whom i serve saying do not be afraid
paul
you must be brought before caesar and
indeed god has granted you all those who
sell with you
therefore take heart men for i believe
god that it will be just as it was told
me however we must run aground on a
certain island
and of course all that came to pass now
verse 27
now when the 14th night had come
as we were driven up and down in the
adriatic sea about midnight the sailors
since they were drawing near some land
okay so they're still on that ship no
food
14th night so somewhere from when paul
had stood up and said
that after a long absence for food
that's when he stood up
and then between that 14th night it
could have been somewhere between 10
and 14 days that is what the bible
describes
as a long fast a long abstinence from
food
well that pastor stephen that would have
to be 40 days
no i consider anything over 10 days to
be a long fast
anything for sure over uh right around
14 days
that is what the bible calls long
abstinence from food
and abstinence from food is a fast
praise god anything over 14 days for
sure
is a long fast if you're thinking about
doing that
and you've never done something like
that before and you're not sure maybe
you have
some health issues or something like
that please get advice from your doctor
get insight and counsel from your doctor
praise god i
do have a pastor friend that he was on
some heavy medications
and he did a fast a water fast only he
did not advise his doctor
even when he was on these real powerful
drugs
but he did a fast and while he was on
that fast he
he collapsed and passed out as he fell
down and collapsed to the floor
his mouth hit the the kitchen countertop
uh it was a granite countertop and it
knocked his front teeth loose
and uh the eventually somebody found him
and the paramedics the ambulance came
and
took him to the hospital and he actually
died on the way
he went flatlined and died and they did
some things to
you know pump his heart shock his heart
and they brought him back
and uh eventually he was you know
resuming his ministry
but he had also talked to his doctor and
doctor said oh you should have told me
that you're going to do a water fast
because
that had a wild effect on your body with
these drugs that you were taking
that's what caused you to pass out and
go into this shock and
you know you basically you know died so
to speak
but uh just check on things not the make
anybody afraid
but if you have health issues uh you
need to get some good advice
from a doctor on that especially if
you're going to do a long fast
which is anything 14 days or longer
praise the lord
thank you jesus side note
that pastor told me that after he
resumed his health
and he's ready to go back and start
preaching again he got back in the
pulpit and he was preaching
and right in the middle of his message
the teeth that he had busted on the
countertop
while he was preaching to the people the
teeth fell out and fell on the ground
and somebody picked him up and wrapped
him up in the napkin
i think they were able to stick them
back in later you know through the
dentist
doing or gave him some implants or
something i'm not sure
but uh he was quite uh quite a preacher
kept on going didn't even stop
praise the lord that he thought it was
funny praise god
thank you lord jesus so my friends when
you fast and pray
even if you're a situation where you
don't want to fast but you end up having
to do that like paul did
might as well use it for good and just
pray and position yourself
because you get very very sensitive to
the spirit realm
um especially where you're on a ship in
the middle of the storm
and there's something else to do just
drop the sails
throw everything overboard and tie
yourself down on your
on your cot in your little cabin so you
don't roll off with the violent waves
and just lay there
and just pray yeah you'll get real calm
you get real quiet
all you're going to hear is the wind and
the thunderous waves
breaking against the ship and
you know it's either hear that or hear
god praise the lord but just spend time
with the lord
praise the lord thank you jesus
hallelujah glory to god
thank you lord jesus
i see you merging into this realm
the kingdom of heaven suffers violence
and the violent
take it by force praise the
lord you have to rise up and take it
your spirit has to dominate the flesh
praise the lord the flesh will put up a
fight
there can be violence there can be
this internal combustion where you feel
like
lord are you even hearing my prayers
lord i'm just going through agony you'll
get through that
you'll eventually press through that and
you'll get into a place of quietness and
peace
but you need to stay consistent until
you get out there praise the lord
thank you lord jesus hallelujah
years back i was doing a fast it was a
little more like a daniel fast
i did eat a few things but it was hardly
anything it was basically what i could
put in my hand
and it was only one meal a day and it
was pretty much something i could hold
in my hand
could be some almonds uh it could have
been like a
maybe uh just something real small but
that was it
outside of that i would just drink
liquids and so
i was losing a lot of weight i was also
traveling
as we were doing international trips at
that time we were in germany
and we were doing meetings in berlin
and on the 20 uh second day
the 22nd day i was still fasting but i
was
i was in agony now before then it's not
like a fast was fun
but i was working my way through it and
and i got past 21 days
and on day 22 i was in agony i felt like
lord
i am so hungry and i've done pretty well
up until now but unless you do something
with your grace
i'm going to have to go out and eat
because i all i can think about is food
and
i'm just really hungry and while i was
in a little bitty
washroom a little bitty mini laundry
area
the area was so small i had to crawl on
my hands and knees to get into it
it was very funny but i was in there
because it was
real quiet and peaceful there was a door
i could close because we were staying in
an apartment flat
and i wanted a quiet place where i could
pray and while i was in there the lord
jesus came
to me and he stood before me in a vision
and i could see him standing
and he came up and talked to him and he
was smiling when he came to me
and the first thing he said i would like
for you to start eating again
and i knew okay well that's why the i'm
so hungry because the grace has lifted
because the fast is over
and he basically let me know that he had
heard my prayers
but you know what you cannot force a
vision
you cannot force a supernatural
encounter and i can't promise you that
if you'll fast and pray
you're going to see jesus like i did but
i can say this
that if you will seek the lord with
fasting and prayer
like ezra did there will be reward that
will come out of that
the lord will cover you protect you
and bless you and who knows maybe you
will
have a supernatural encounter maybe you
will catch something
in the spirit that you never would have
caught before if you had not taken the
time to
get very sensitive and quiet before the
lord praise the lord
but one thing i can say for sure is that
the lord will reward you
and bless you now there's different
types of
fasting and prayer there is a
fascinating prayer
where uh you pray you go into your your
prayer closet you close the door
people are not really aware of your
private devotional prayer life
and then there's fasting where you you
don't let people know you
wash your face like jesus said you're
not like the pharisees going around
telling people
you're fasting and stuff like that so
there's the private prayer uh
private prayer and private fasting but
as we see in other times in scripture
there is uh times when you do it
publicly
and there's public prayers there's
public fasting like ezra demonstrated
and there's
you know there's public giving public
offerings like moses demonstrated
whoever wants to bring an offering of
gold or silver or these various gems or
various colors that are needed
and so that was all public so there's
private giving there's public giving
there's private prayer public prayer
private fasting
public fasting praise the lord
but i sense in my heart a gathering
by the river of ahava that the journey
has begun praise the lord amen so we're
walking by faith
if you want to if you want to do some
fasting in prayer
that's between you and the lord but if
you want to just know hey
you know uh i'm so that you're not the
only one out there
send me an email contact
stephenbrooks.org
and just say pastor steve but i'm doing
some fasting right now
i'm i'm on my way on a spiritual journey
as well
and uh just letting you know
and just letting heaven know that i'm
making this journey and i'm not alone
praise god and i'll pray for you
i'll pray for you praise the lord
doesn't mean that you need to fast for
21 days or 40 days
whatever but whatever you feel led to do
whether it's three days or two days
make a commitment and then stick with it
until
you cross the finish line having said
that i do
sense in my heart there will be some
that will go further that will go
21 days some may go further than that
some may go 30 days
it's amazing don't ever underestimate
the grace of god
it is absolutely amazing what it can do
i have seen people that are champion
eaters
that have never ever missed a meal in
their life
for anything they've never missed three
meals a day have never missed one meal
in their life
ever i've seen god's grace touch them
and i have seen them
go 21 days with no food as they pray
and fast and seek the face of god and i
think lord
that is one of the most amazing
demonstrations of your grace because i
i know these people that have that have
done it champion eaters
and just there's no way they could even
give up one meal
but yet they would start the journey at
the river ahava
and the next thing you know they have
gone 21 days it's incredible
i know i know one that's doing it right
now
champion eater incredible eater i've
been at meals with him and uh
he could eat he could eat for four
people
it's incredible praise the lord
but he loves god he loves god and
somehow he
contacts that grace and he just goes
from glory to glory
goes from blessing the blessing praise
the lord keeps on moving
along the path that god has for him
thank you jesus
father i pray for your people that are
listening that are watching
giving heed to your word that
whatever they're supposed to do and
maybe maybe they don't even really know
how long they want to go
but they'll just start and then that
grace will pick them up kind of like in
star wars they get caught
in that tractor beam that pulls them
along they get in that
that flow of your spirit and they emerge
into it and they're like
okay this is not a cake walk but i i'm
in it and i'm up and i'm i'm
making progress father just let them
come along
just let them come along and we give you
praise for
beautiful demonstrations of your grace
to get us through it
and to get us to the place that we're
supposed to be the conclusion of it
and we thank you also that you're going
to hear our prayers
and we thank you during these times
you're allowing us to slow everything
down to the speed of accuracy
where we make right decisions where
we focus on the right prayer objectives
and where we get our lives in
beautiful harmony and order now we thank
you
we thank you father for the guidance of
your holy spirit and the strength of
your word as we step into it now
in jesus name we all agree and say
amen praise the lord if you're doing
some form of fasting just shoot me a
contact
let me know so i can be praying for you
praise the lord contact
stephenbrooks.org
praise god now if you're watching
today's program
and you don't know jesus as your
personal
lord and savior you could do all the
fasting
you can do all types of jumping through
religious hoops
but there is only one means of salvation
and that is through putting your faith
and trust in jesus
as your lord and savior because he's the
only one
that has paid the penalty for for sin
and spiritual death
and when you put your faith and trust in
him
your sins are washed away and you
receive his new life within your heart
if you would like to make a decision
right now to receive christ as your
savior
pray this prayer after me say jesus
i'm a sinner but right now
i give my life to you i fully surrender
my heart to you jesus
come into my heart save me right now
wash me with your precious blood
write my name in your book of life
i receive you now as my savior and lord
jesus in your name i pray
amen and amen praise be the lord
hallelujah
glory to god thank you lord jesus
praise the lord now
let us take holy communion together as i
know many of you will be getting
your stepping off point from the ahava
river praise god
it's a good thing to take communion
before you start praise the lord
so grab some unleavened bread and grab
some grape juice
and let's pray father we hold the bread
and the juice in our hands we now pray
and set this apart as being consecrated
and holy
this is now the body in the blood of
christ our savior
father as we receive the body of jesus
we receive your promises and we receive
your principles found in
your word we thank you for strength to
operating your principles
and father we thank you that we see
fasting throughout your scriptures
and so we want to implement that into
our lives
and father we know that there are some
things that if we wait until we feel
like doing it
we're never going to do it so father we
implement it because it's
principles of ways that we are to govern
our lives so we choose to
step into this and merge into this and
we thank you that
we are trusting for your grace to pull
us along to take us further
and we thank you that we believe it will
be there as we receive
the body of jesus now in his name we
pray
amen let's partake
praise the lord this year is going to be
quite an adventure this is going to be
the most exciting year of your life
get ready father thank you for the blood
of jesus we asked if we have committed
any sins
that you would forgive us of our sins
and wash them away
we thank you father that our sins and
iniquities you remember
no more we give you praise
thank you father and we forgive anyone
who has sinned against
us we ask that you would lead us away
from temptation
we ask that you would deliver us from
the evil one his snares his plots
his plans we ask that you would deliver
us keep us safe
now father thank you it's in jesus name
we pray
amen let's receive the blood of jesus
praise god praise god
hallelujah pastor stephen can i go to
heaven without fasting
of course you can you can go to heaven
without giving
you can go to heaven without praying
you're saved by grace through faith
it's not something that you earn but we
operate in principles
so that we can step into the fullness of
all that god has for us
thank you jesus in closing let me share
this
while paul mentioned being caught up
into the third heaven
and while many theologians give a
kind of like a intellectualized
explanation of what that means saying
that the first heaven is right here the
atmosphere the air that we breathe
second heaven is a little higher up
where the airplanes fly the third heaven
is outer space
reaching into the realm of heaven itself
from from my perspective
the first heaven is the realm of heaven
that is
the realm where most of the saints
live at it's where the majority of the
saints live at it's phenomenal
it's beautiful it's uh it's glory that's
just
perfect it's the perfect place
but there is the second heaven and
that's
the next place that you go up to
where you had many people that served
god
and they had a heart for the lord while
they were on the earth
and they are able to
walk in that realm of the second heaven
and they can function there because the
glory is brighter
but there is another realm that is the
third realm of heaven
which is the realm of those who just
they just laid their lives down
completely for the lord while they were
on the earth
some were martyred others are living
martyrs and
it doesn't mean that you're an apostle
or prophet evangelist pastor a teacher
but it means you're a person
you just lived your life all out for god
you
you you it was god you were consumed
by the by the lord his purposes and his
kingdom
agenda so you have those that gave all
emptied their whole hearts out those are
the ones
that walk in that realm of the third
heaven and that
that is glory it's a level of brilliance
that those on the first level they can't
they can't go up there doesn't mean they
can't see god doesn't mean they don't
know god
but that that's a realm that is just um
is so brilliant praise god
thank you jesus when your life is over
you're not going to have an opportunity
to relive it
again there's always something going on
on the earth there's always the pulling
of your attention
and there's always food there's always
something that would say don't start a
fast now
it's not convenient could you please
show me a time when it is convenient
i mean unless you're apostle paul on a
ship out in the middle of a sea
and the whole kitchen's shut down you
can't eat anyhow well then okay then
maybe we could start some fasting
now you're forced to do it but outside
of that
there is no convenient time
there's always an appointment there's
always somebody to meet there's always
uh you know so you're just gonna have to
work that principle into your life but
as you do
and as you get into that flow and as you
get into that realm and as you have the
glory moments
you'll begin to see what it's all about
praise god
and it nothing would make me happier
as a minister who's a minister of the
word
to see you live a life that when your
life is over because
you followed biblical principles you're
up there
praise god that's determined now not
later
that's set in this realm not later
later oh oh if i don't know i would have
really would have lived my life
different
you know now you know praise god and
whether you're taught that or not
that's the way it works praise the lord
see i'll never forget
sitting in high school in the bleachers
senior class and everybody's in the
bleachers on this side in the middle you
have the basketball court
because this gymnasium on the other side
you've got the other the other bleachers
are all empty
and the the principal gets in the middle
of the basketball court with a
microphone
and a little you know platform a little
like pulpit type thing
it says now we're going to start handing
out the awards
and i thought awards i didn't know there
were going to be any awards
and so i'm sitting there as a high
school senior
and he says the award for chemistry goes
to so and so come on down
somebody comes out of the stands and
gets his award
goes to the other side now the award for
mathematics goes to so and so come on
down
he goes to the other side the award for
this the award for that
and before you know it there's people on
the other side and the rest of us just
sitting over here oh
we all graduated we all graduated
but there's there's there's awards
there are things available for those
that
put extra effort and went all out in the
moment praise god so for the lord
you may never in fullness receive his
reward down here in the sense where
people applaud you
hey that you did really good we're going
to allow you a special parking spot here
at the front of the grocery store
you may never get that for leading
somebody the christ
down here probably won't but there will
come a day
there will come a day when the awards
will be passed out and the angels
are super accurate 100
act 100 accurate in record keeping
and i want to see you go as high as you
can praise the lord
thank you jesus praise praise god father
bless your people
let this message go into their spirit
and let them act
by the leading of your holy spirit in
response we thank you
we thank you father god for opening up
that realm
and for messages from you getting
through to us
that are necessary for us to know we
give you all the praise
we thank you for understanding and
wisdom coming
in jesus name amen
god bless you have a great week and i
look forward to hearing from those of
you
that would like to do some fasting as
well shoot me that email and i'll be
praying for you
god bless you bye-bye