 Wilderness is a place of spiritual wandering. Where you wonder if God is with you, where you wonder why this is happening to me, when this is going to end, where you wonder if the words spoken over your life by prophetic voices in your life were really just a bunch of people just made up their stuff, where a lot of times you wonder, did you really get delivered, or you still need more deliverance? There's a lot of questions, a lot of doubts. Wilderness is usually a place where our feelings fade, our finances get dry, relationships get sour, and our experiences with God become extremely shallow. And we begin to have a lot of questions, and a lot of wonders. Wilderness is, if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down, the warfare of wilderness. The first thing I want to mention is the warfare of wilderness. Wilderness is not where the spiritual warfare begins, but this is where God is preparing us for dominion. When Israel was removed from Egypt through deliverance, they went through a dry season before they entered into the Promised Land. In the Promised Land is where they exercised their dominion, it's where they walked in their victory, they drove the enemies out. But in the wilderness is where God was developing them. This was a dry place. This was a place where there was lack of water, there was lack of provision, there was a lot of struggles in wilderness. Jesus, similar thing happened to Jesus. Jesus had experienced a great feeling of the spirit at the river Jordan, and the scripture says right after that he goes to wilderness. Elijah has a great fire that comes, famine ends, drought ends, and then Elijah goes for 40 days in wilderness. He has a lot of questions to God. You know, Lord, I don't want to live anymore. You left me all alone, and so there's that wilderness season. Moses gets this crazy, you know, drive. I no longer want to be part of the palace because I, you know, got awoke to my calling and tarara, and next thing that happens ends up in wilderness for 40 years. Wilderness is not strange to a spiritual experience. Wilderness is a part of spiritual walk with God. I believe that wilderness is sandwiched between deliverance and dominion. Wilderness at dry time is sandwiched between your deliverance and your dominion. The scripture says, an evil spirit went out of a man and went through dry places. Somebody say through, because demons go through dry places. So is the delivered people go through dry places. We go through dry places. We don't live in dry places. We don't get defined by dry places, and we should not anchor down our identity in dry places because it's something we go through. It's something not that we are living in. Can somebody say amen? The run in me chapter two and verse seven, it says the following, for the Lord your God has blessed you in all your work of your hand. He knows your difficult time through this great wilderness. These 40 years, the Lord your God has been with you and you have lacked nothing. The width of wilderness. The length of wilderness. It's interesting because Israel has went through wilderness 40 years and Jesus went through wilderness 40 days. And there is a verse in book of Numbers when the spies came back from spying the land and the Bible says that they came back and Numbers 14-34, it says the following, according to the number of your days in which you spied out the land 40 days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely 40 years, and you shall know my rejection. Spiritual wilderness can be shortened or extended. We don't determine if we go through it. We decide how long we go through it. Spiritual wilderness can be shortened and it can be extended. Jesus said that in Gospel of Matthew he said if it had not been for the chosen ones, for the ones that are elect, he says these days, unless the days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. That tells me that there are evil days, dry days that can be shortened or extended. Now let's look at Israel and let's look at Jesus. Do the contrast. The wilderness some historians in theologians say that their wilderness experience should have lasted about 14 days. 14-day journey. This 14 days turned into 40 years because Israel in their wilderness, all they did was complained. They used their wilderness to wine and therefore they extended it. Jesus goes through wilderness and he has doubts thrown at him. Jesus is fasting for 40 days in the wilderness, surrounded by wild beasts, lack of water, and the wilderness Jesus was going through, my friend, this is not like Paschal wilderness or Nevada. When we drove through Israel and we saw the Judean wilderness that Jesus went through, that thing is so dry, there is absolutely not one green, even a fake plant anywhere within your sight. Even if you would find a hiding place in the cave, it's still so hot and for 40 days he's being tempted, he's being bombarded with the demons and not once in 40 days was Jesus whining. Instead, he was warring with his mouth. He stood in the scriptures and guess what happened? After 40 days that season ended. So let me ask you a question. When you are going through your wilderness, are you whining or are you worshiping? Because your response in the spiritual wilderness determines how long that wilderness will be. No matter how spiritual you are, you cannot escape wilderness. But the real spirituality is not determined if you go through wilderness, it determines how you go through wilderness. Whether you go confessing or complaining, whether you go doubting or standing quoting the scriptures, whether you go based on your feelings or you go based on the word of God. The width of wilderness is within our hands. We decide how long that wilderness will be by the kind of reaction that we choose to have. The width of wilderness. God is with you in the wilderness even if you don't feel him. The width of wilderness, meaning you are with God, but in the wilderness, God is usually not felt. You don't feel God in wilderness, but you have to get to know God in wilderness outside of your feelings. In fact, we read in Deuteronomy 2 verse 7, he says, these 40 years the Lord your God has been with you and you lack nothing. I read the account of Israel being in Egypt and many times they had these questions, where is our God? Why do we have no water if he's with us? Why do we have no meat and steak if he's with us? And I want you to see this. God said, I have been with you. He didn't say every other year. He didn't say I was there two years and then I took a year off. He says, I've been with you all these 40 years in the wilderness. When you had no water, I was there with you. When you had no food, I was there with you. When the enemy was coming close, I was there with you, but we didn't feel you with us. That's one thing you have to know about wilderness. In the wilderness, you don't feel God, yet he's still there. God has promised to be with you always till the end of age, not till the end of good season, not till the end of Trump's presidency, not till the end of your good time, not till the end of your career, not till the end of your employment, till the end of age. But God never promised that you will feel him. God never promised that you will always feel him when he's with you. So that tells me that we have to stand assured on his promise of his presence instead of our experience of his presence. Wilderness is a time where you don't feel God. In fact, one of the most frustrating things about wilderness is the fact that you don't feel God. And you want to feel him so bad. But this is the time where you get to know God. Not through the feelings, but through your spirit. If you can renew your mind just with this, he is with me and God, you don't owe my feelings nothing. God, I am not going to put you at prison on my emotions. God, I am not going to make my emotions above your word. I trust that you are with me. I don't feel you. I don't sense you right now. God, in fact, my mind is saying one thing, my circumstances are dictating another thing. My emotions are risen against me. My feelings are fading. My finances are dry. My relationships are sour. And Lord, my experiences with you are shallow. But God, I believe you are with me. Your name is Emmanuel, God with us. Lord, the last thing you said before you left is, Lord, I am with you always. I didn't believe you were bluffing. I don't believe you were exaggerating. I don't believe you were throwing words on the wind. You are a word, so you have an integrity in yourself. I believe that always part applies to me right now. If you can get this through your head, through your spirit, and through your soul, you can get through any wilderness. When you can remind yourself, he's with me, even when I don't feel it. In fact, how do you know you're in wilderness when you don't feel it? When your favorite song is playing, it doesn't click. You're like, I did it. I tried to cry that tear. I lifted the hand. I tried the hands like this. I went on my knees. I went to the front. I had the pastor hit me and touched. The other one touched me. One hit me. The other one poured oil on my head. The other one sprayed water. I mean, I did the whole thing and I feel nothing. He must not be with me. The Bible says, be still and know. It doesn't say, be still and feel that I am God. God is not felt. God is known. He is the person, not an electric wire. You stick your finger in. Yes, he's power, but he's a person. But in the wilderness, you don't feel him. You know him. Can somebody say amen? The width of wilderness. He says, I am with you. You know, it's interesting. I was reading this more this week in my devotional in the Gospel of John chapter nine. It says, it says this verse. Now Jesus passed by and he saw a man who was blind. He dawned on me. Jesus sees me before I see him. The blind man is kind of like we are sometimes. You don't feel like you see him. Like where is God? Always remember, God sees you before you see him. In fact, it was Hagar who had a revelation of El Roy. And this is the revelation of El Roy. I saw him who sees me. Meaning God always sees. God always sees you. God always knows you. And only then the Bible says the blind man saw Jesus. But remember, Jesus sees you when you don't feel him. He sees you when you don't see him. He sees you if you don't sense him. He sees you. He knows you and he is with you. But God absolutely owes nothing to my emotional confirmation. In fact, if he will always cater to my emotions, my faith doesn't have a chance to grow. Amen. The width of wilderness. He's with me. I'm with him. The next one is the work of wilderness. God is working in the wilderness behind the scenes. God in the wilderness is not on the scene. He's behind the scenes. Which gets confusing because we believe God is working when we see him in a spotlight. For example, you got a promotion. Praise be to God. God is good, my friend. You found a girlfriend. To God be the glory. God is good all the time. And all the time God is good. You got a job. God is good. Your credit score went up. You got a house. Man, God is good. You got healing manifested in your body. Man, my God is good. You're somebody you prayed for God saved. God is good. See, we love when God is working on the scenes. In the wilderness, God does not work on the scene. He works behind the scenes. It's kind of like this right now. You see me on the scene. You see me in this. There's a spotlight. It will be foolish to say that. That's all that is happening at Hungry Gen right now is lad with the microphone. In fact, this is only about 5% of what is happening at this very moment at Hungry Gen. There is somebody right now that is sitting behind a sound board that is controlling the sound. There is somebody that is watching the lights right now that you see the lights. There is somebody else that is switching right now the slides. There is two, three people that are standing behind the cameras. There is two people that are switching things for livestream. There's another person switching shots. And then there's about three or four people walking guns and protecting this facility. There's also people that are working with children and there are those that are watching right now make sure that nobody else walks into that room. There's somebody else that is walking around right now and checking different things. There's somebody in a parking lot. There's so much stuff that is happening behind the scenes. That's not on the scene. And what happens many times during the wilderness is because God's work is not seen, we think it doesn't exist. Can God work behind the scenes? And He is working behind the scenes. I want you to read what Job said. Job had the same problem when he went through dry season. He didn't see God working. And this is what Job said. When I go forward, He is not there. Backward, I cannot perceive Him. When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him. And I turn to the right hand, I cannot see Him. But He knows the way which I take. And when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. I want you to see this. Job realizes I can't see God, but he still says when He works on the left, He works on the right. I want to tell you something. God is still working even if I don't see it. Let me tell you how it happened with Israel. Israel always doubted that God was working behind the scenes in the wilderness. For example, the daily needs of Israel in the wilderness, food. They needed 3.5 million pounds of food. A quarter master general in the army reported that Moses would have to have 1,500 tons of food each day. That's two freight trains each mile long. One million, excuse me, 1,500 tons of food every single day. There was no factories in wilderness. There was no Winko in wilderness. Costco wasn't there. God fed people every day 1,500 tons every day behind the scenes. Cooking. They needed 4,000 tons of wood to cook their food. There is no wood in wilderness. It's called wilderness for a reason. Especially if you would go with, this is not Portland or Seattle where it rains and there's a lot of trees. That was provided for. Water. A person's water requirement would be about 20 quarts approximately per day in 109 degrees Fahrenheit. 11 million gallons of water each day would be needed to drink, wash themselves and clean dishes. That would be equivalent to a lot of trains. They had no lakes. They had no Columbia River. They had no ocean. Few wells and some of them had bitter water. God was working behind the scenes. Space. The children of Israel crossed the Red Sea in just one night. If they want, if they would go on a narrow part, double file, the line would be 800 miles long. That would take 35 days and nights to get through. So there had to be enough space in the Red Sea. Three miles wide so that they could walk across 5,000 people next to each other in one night. Every time Israel camped, they needed an area 25 miles wide and 30 miles long. We don't think about those things, but God was working behind the scenes. They did not go through the Red Sea in 35 days. They went in one night. That means God split the sea three miles wide. The only thing you're thinking is that I didn't have my stake tonight. You don't think about God working behind the scenes. But I didn't get my dream card this month. You don't think about God working behind the scenes, protecting you in that car that you're driving and didn't get a car accident this month. We don't pay attention to God working behind the scenes and a lot of times our volunteers feel unappreciated because they are in a spotlight. But how is God also not feeling appreciated because he's working behind the scenes and we accuse him for not being on the stage? Lord, but you're not doing this. You're not doing this. You're not doing this. This is the majesty of wilderness. As God is working, he's just not seen working. But just because he's not seen, he is still working behind the scenes. And in fact, if it wouldn't be for the volunteers behind the scenes, there would be nothing to see. And I see all the volunteers like, finally somebody acknowledge my presence here. Come on, somebody, that's right. Can we give all a round of applause to all the people working behind the scenes? Can we give a round of applause to the Lord working behind the scenes in our life, protecting us, blessing us, driving away the enemy behind the scenes when we are not seeing, when we are sleeping at night and fighting witches and warlocks on our behalf, cancelling spells, cancelling witchcraft that has been directly toward us and we're sleeping like a baby, car accidents that should have happened, stopping sicknesses that should have happened, protecting us, guiding us, providing for our skin. We take a moment and say, God, I thank you for behind the scene miracles. I thank you for miracles that you are doing that I'm not seeing behind the scene miracles. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. I was reading this week and I was seeing that Jesus said this, my father has been working until now and I've been working. Do you remember when God gave Israel a Sabbath in the book of Genesis? Remember? And the Bible says, he rested on the seventh day and God told Israel, don't work on Sabbath. In the New Testament, God the Son did seven miracles recorded on the Sabbath. In fact, all the miracles Jesus got in trouble with was because he did them on the Sabbath. Jesus knew how offensive it will be and so this week as I was reading Gospel of John, he healed Peter's mother-in-law on the Sabbath. He heals a man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. He heals a blind man on the Sabbath. He heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath. He heals another man on the Sabbath. Drives out a demon on the Sabbath. He heals a lame man by the pool on the Sabbath. And I said, Lord, but I thought that on the Sabbath you took a day off. And I really felt, I'm not sure how deep it is or even accurate. This is just my personal revelation. I felt like the Lord spoke to my heart and he said, even when you're resting, I'm always working. I'm working on your days off and I'm working on your good days. I'm also working on your hard days. I'm working on your hellish days. I'm working on the days where you're crying and I'm working on the days that you're laughing. I'm always working. God took a day off because creation was completed. When sin came into creation I believe God stopped taking days off because on the Saturday you need his help. On Friday we need his mercy because on Sunday we need a miracle because some people, they're laying on the hospital bed right now and they cannot wait till Sunday. They need God to show up on Saturday and God stopped taking days off. Why? Because today he's always working on our behalf. I just want to let you know God is working. You may not feel like he's working. It might not seem like nothing is moving right now. You actually may feel like things are going backwards. I want to tell you something. For those who love God and are called according to his purpose all things work together. They know why they work together because there's somebody working them. It is God connecting. It is God attaching. It is God working behind the scenes. You might be discouraged today that nothing is working. God is working. And you don't have to see it to know it. God doesn't always have to be on the stage to be working. God is so secure in himself. He can be working behind the scenes and he's not getting the credit. He's not getting the acknowledgement. He's not getting the applause. He's not getting a praise you Lord. Thank you Lord. And God is secure in himself. The same way Jesus created his first miracle behind the scenes. In fact the main guy in charge of the wedding gave a credit to the wrong person because he did not see Jesus behind the scenes. Because God is always working. In your wilderness he is working. Through your pain he is working. Through your drama he is working. Through your financial struggle he is working. In your wilderness God is working. He did not get fired. He did not get laid off and he did not leave his employment. He is working. As my father is working Jesus says so I am working. He was making a reference there to a sabbath. Work on a sabbath. That was before the fall. After the fall God went to work. Non-stop. The scripture says he who watches over Israel doesn't slumber or sleep. You know what that tells me? God doesn't take breaks. You know what that tells me? God doesn't clock off at four o'clock. You know what that tells me? God doesn't clock in at nine. You know what that tells me? God doesn't slumber or sleep. Amen. The work of wilderness. Meaning God is working in my behalf. The word of wilderness. In the wilderness to live by faith we must be ruled by the word of God. But he answered and said Jesus it is written men shall not live by brother alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. But Jesus was quoting the run in chapter eight verse three which says the following. Allowed you to hunger and fed you with men which you did not know nor did your fathers know that he may make you known that a man shall not live by brother alone but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. That tells me the only way to survive the wilderness is through the word of God which is faith. Faith is being ruled by God's word. Feelings is being ruled by your senses. When Jesus came to the pool excuse me to the well and he met as a married woman the Bible says she was married five times lived with the sixth man and then she met the seventh one. Married five times that speaks of us. We're married to five senses. Humanity is controlled by five senses. Living with the sixth, number six in the Bible is a number of a man. That's a fallen humanity. We have a fallen humanity in us until we meet the seventh man. While being a fallen humanity we are married to five senses meaning we perceive truth through our five senses. I see it, I smell it, I hear it, I taste it, I touch it. These are the husbands many people have been married to. The problem is you can't walk by faith if you are married to your senses. When you meet the seventh man Jesus Christ he is the word of God. Jesus is the word made in flesh. When you allow Jesus to rule your life faith becomes a product or by product a result and a fruit. There is no way we can learn to walk by faith without being ruled by God's word. I'm not talking about having a Bible app on your phone. I'm not talking about enabling notification where once a day I give you a verse of the day and getting that little spiritual diet. I'm talking about letting God's word decide what's truth letting God's word overrule the feelings, overrule my senses and letting God's word be the one that we are subject to. What wilderness, spiritual wilderness does is it throws off emotionally addicted Christians. What wilderness does is it makes soft, spineless, emotionally filled Christians panic and freak out. But the Lord does that on purpose because it's not possible to know God without faith. Faith is the currency of the spiritual realm. God cannot develop faith until he allows us to go through places where our feelings fail. And what a better way for our feelings to fail than to put us through wilderness. Where all of our feelings that we relied on are simply saying, God is not with you you're not going to make it, you're crazy you're exactly what the other person said about you this is look at your finances what is the prophetic word? That's a false prophet right there. That's not working, that's not working and your feelings are failing and so because that's all we have known because we've been married to our feelings and our five senses we panic but this is the moment where God says I led you through wilderness these 40 days so I can humble you it takes humility to reject my senses as the source of my food put it aside so I can humble you God says and so I can teach you a man, my man my woman cannot live by bread, physical things what they hear, what they see that cannot be your life he says they must live by the word that comes out of my mouth God says I want to make you a spiritual person who has a soul instead of a soulish person who lives by his senses wilderness is for that reason I know it's painful but it's necessary to develop a spirituality within you spirituality is not that you have the scripture memorized that you are ruled by what God says not what you feel, not what you see not what the enemy says not what your circumstances says ruled by word I know this is 9am service but the word of God is the source can somebody say amen to live by faith we must be ruled by God's word to live by feelings all we have to do is do nothing just live, go through life as it is there's only one way to get through spiritual wilderness and that is the way Jesus did Satan came against Jesus and Jesus says he didn't thought the scriptures he fought with the scriptures a little secret when you're bombarded in your mind in a spiritual wilderness do not fight the devil in your mind fight the devil with your mouth verbally fight the devil how do you do that until it changes the direction of your meditation Joshua 1.8 says do not let the book of the law depart your mouth it's interesting because after that it says and then let it fill your meditation and then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success when your mind is bombarded you can redirect the train of your thoughts by opening your mouth and saying something opposite in accordance with God's word this is temptation Satan will use the scripture against you out of context the moment he sees you stand on the word this is where he changes the tactic and he takes the word and uses it against you for example he will take scriptures on communion and use it against you he will take scriptures about condemnation and use it against you he will take any scripture so this is where you have to use the scripture helmet of salvation I am saved that means you can hit me with that one you put on the breastplate of righteousness I am righteous devil you can hit me with that oh you're a bad person that's not conviction that's condemnation why because conviction is specific condemnation in general and conviction gives me hope condemnation makes me hopeless and conviction is from the Holy Spirit and this does not sound so I'm just going to go ahead and put the breastplate of righteousness the moment devil I'm going to tell you one thing one of the biggest spiritual warfare you'll experience is when the enemy will use the scripture to come against you scripture was used against Jesus do this and Jesus says devil you took the scripture out of context and he says that's not and devil still used the scripture he did not Jesus still used the scripture he did not go to Koran he did not go to another book well Koran wasn't written at the time he did not go to other book and say well the bible can be trusted because the devil is using it so many people say well the devil is using miracles so that means we should stay away from miracles there are demons that are doing this and we should stay away from that just because there is a fake $100 bill I am not going to tear all of my $100 bills my friend if the devil uses the bible against you stick with the context of the bible and put on the whole armor of God and say devil you can't hit me with my sword because this is my sword and I'm going to use that against you and the devil will run from you he's right now for God's word for the power of his word amen and the last thing that I want to mention is that in the wilderness the worship of wilderness worship is the water in the wilderness it might not be found in the river of life's blessings but it will flow from the rock of who God is mmm the wilderness region in this peninsula where Israel was going through for 40 years the Hebrews 100 generally it was styled as the wilderness of wanderings it extended from the north to the south about 220 miles, 250 miles and its width point is about 150 miles abroad throughout this vast region of some 1500 square miles there was not one single river so this particular wilderness that Israel was in had no river but I want you to find it interesting that they still found water I feel like that's exactly what worship is in our wilderness worship is our water worship is your water it keeps you spiritually hydrated do you remember when Jesus came to the woman at the well and he was talking about the water and she was talking about the water and then he mentioned they start talking about worship because worship is your water it's a water that God drinks from and it's the water that refreshes you when you give it to him remember how Jesus says give me something to drink God desires your worship and only one worthy of it and when you give it to God somehow it refreshes you worship is not about us yet after worship we feel better and when we take worship it corrupts us it turns us into monsters when we give worship it makes us better people because we were created for worship Isaiah says I created you for my glory meaning we were created to worship God and in worshipping him we change because we become what we behold we become what we worship water is your worship worship is your water but this is the problem in wilderness is that you don't find water because there's no river well that's what the enemy says you can't worship God because there's no river in wilderness in other words there is no external life's blessings in wilderness therefore you can't worship God but that's where the devil got it wrong because Israel found water in the wilderness without rivers they found it in the rock in normal circumstances you get water from the river but when you go through wilderness you will not find your water worship from the river of life you will find your water from the rock of ages whose name is Jesus Christ that means if you don't feel like you have a reason to worship God you have a cause to worship God which is God himself the water will come from the rock when you stop worshipping God for what he did you can actually finally worship God for who he is Job did not have a river in his wilderness but the bible says his wife came and says curse God and die what she was saying is die dehydrated because there is no river in your wilderness and he says woman you crazy should we only worship God because of what he does in our life meaning should we only find water in the river I'm gonna go find me a rock and get water from there and the bible says and Job worship God why because you can find your water in the rock if you don't have a river never let the devil stop your worship because you're going through a dry season just because you're filing through bankruptcy God forbid you're going through a divorce or somebody died in your family why because look there is no river my friend in the wilderness you don't get your water from the river you get your water from the rock can somebody say amen you get your water from the rock you were created to worship 60% of a human body is made out of water I really believe that most of our prayer time supposed to be filled with worship most of our life our whole life has to be dedicated to worship God worship is not a ministry it's an identity preaching is not my identity worship I was created to worship I was called to warfare I was anointed to preach but my real identity is a worshipper your real identity the same way your body your brain other organs in your body are made out of water is the same way your spirit man was created it has to be filled like water fills your body your whole life has to be filled with worship excuse the well I'm going through a dry season every river dried up everything that I used to praise God for dried up my friend in the wilderness there is a source of water that's not in the river but it's in the rock meaning you begin to praise him for who he is you begin to praise him for his character you begin to praise him now for who he is and water begins to replenish you as it fills him comes out of him it replenishes you and this is the beautiful part about worship is in the wilderness worship becomes a weapon worship becomes a weapon in Psalm 149 verse 6 it says the following let the high praises of God be in their mouth he'll like oh praise God we're about to have worship and then it says in a two-edged sword in their hands worship songs and swords go together and then to do what not to just dance hope and shout but it says to with vengeance under nations punishments under peoples to bind see like when you are in deliverance the devil binds you but when you begin to worship to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with feathers of iron to execute on them the written judgment this honor meaning it's honor to worship it's honor to the warfare have few saints who finish bible school this honor have few believers who went through a university this honor have few saints who fasted for 40 days and didn't break their fast with the cracker this honor the bible says have all his that means you and I my friend I want to tell you something there is a warfare that will be released a weapon that will be activated when you worship that's why the bible says he will use the praises out of the mouth of babes to silence the avenger that's why when David played instruments he didn't even open his mouth he just and the demons were leaving imagine what would happen if he would start singing he didn't even sing the bible says he played the instrument and demons were leaving already if he would sing something else would shift Paul and Silas song in jail and the earth shook we know that he were worshiping and got moved on their behalf Joshua went to the city that was locked up and instead of throwing rocks at it he lifted a shout Gideon went against an army with only 300 men no machines no nukes nothing no rockets the only thing they had is they had trumpets and they had empty vessels and burning torches because in the spiritual realm your weapon is your worship and it makes so precious your worship becomes so pure when it's in the wilderness why because you got no rivers that's why it makes such a big deal to the devil when you begin to worship because devil freaks out he said you should be whining you should be complaining you should be cursing God and dying you should be dehydrated I thought that if I take you through wilderness I will kill you by thirst where did you find water you said well I don't need a river to have water if I don't have a river I'll find me a rock I will find God I will find his name I will find his nature I will find who he is and worship him the problem also with wilderness is that a lot of people unfortunately they find bitter waters remember when Israel found waters at Mara it's when you begin to worship wrong stuff I really believe every person here is a worshiper the reason why some people have a difficult time worshipping God at church is because they have a God at home that they worship I just don't like the song no it's just because you're an idolater I can't lift my hands you know why it's nothing to do with the song it's not because your personality is so like calm and everything because that's not how you watch football you're already drinking from a water that's bitter it's because you gave your worship to football video games something else you gave your worship somewhere else it's gonna poison you it's gonna hurt you and then you come to church and you're like I can't worship it's not that you can't worship it's that you're already worshipping somewhere else my friend every person is worshipping the question is not if you're worshipping the question to you is who are you worshipping and if you're not worshipping who then what you're worshipping and there are people who can't worship on Sunday God because they worship their family they worship today we have an American idol it's called family and I'm gonna tell you one thing we canceled our Sunday night services overall in the United States for the sake of family and we canceled Wednesday night prayer meetings because of family well family nights you mean everyone on different tablets in different rooms watching different TV shows and today you look at the family there is no family dinners no more there is no family no more left because anytime you elevate something good to a place of God you will destroy it it will destroy you my friend family is a beautiful thing but it's not supposed to be an idol that means we worship God with our family we don't worship our family as God we worship God with our spouse we don't make our spouse into a God we worship because that's called bitter waters of Mara they'll make you sick and they'll make you poisonous idol worship yes we might not have a fat Buddha belly over there that we are worshiping we might not have some kind of a curtain that we are bowing to but if you are doing exactly the same thing and you can't come to church because you are worshiping football and because you are worshiping that my friend I want to tell you something in the wilderness you're drinking bitter waters and it's time to stop drinking those waters and come to the living water called Jesus come to the living water called God and begin to give him pure worship somebody give God some praise this is not to condemn anybody but I just want to encourage each one of you for God is looking for such that we worship him in spirit and in truth God inhabits the praises of his people because God is looking for worshipers God wants to drink from your water he is coming to you and to you and says do you have something to drink can you give me something to drink because I deserve this worship I made you for this worship and if you give it to me I will give it back to you if you give it to me you will be refreshed you will be hydrated you will have the strength to go on you will have the strength to go through but you Lord I cannot worship you because I don't feel like there is anything good happening in my life well if there is nothing good happening in my life that means the river dries up begin to worship God who is good in your life right now and you will see water coming out of the rock and as you would drink from that water good things will happen you don't worship God because you are good you worship God because he is good you don't worship God because you are holy you worship God because he is holy when you have nothing when you have no reason you still have a cause somebody say that that's the wilderness we are going to pray in just a moment the worst part about wilderness for me is the wanting of wilderness it's when what God promised for me I can't have it here for example God promised milk and honey but in the wilderness there is no milk and there is no honey there is only manna God promised he will use me to multiply bread but in the wilderness he doesn't even let me turn stone into one piece of bread wilderness is a place of wanting but we should never let the wanting turn into weariness weariness turn into whining and whining turn into wickedness wanting should turn into waiting waiting should turn into worship and worship will turn into winning amen that's another sermon for another day but for now let's rise to our feet every head bowed and every eye closed if you are here today and you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior I would like to give you the opportunity today to get right with the Lord if you are saying whether it's my first time or I've been coming for some time and I would like to give my life to the Lord today when I count to three I'm going to ask you to just slip up your hand and we are going to pray today that Jesus will come into your heart if you are watching us on live stream and you would like to get saved maybe you just stumble upon this live stream you can do that as well you can just comment below saying I would like to give my life to God if you would like to give your life to Jesus when I count to three just raise your hand and pray with you one two three thank you I see your hand thank you I see your hand let's pray I want you to say with me say Lord Jesus I'm a sinner please forgive me of all my sin and wash me with your precious blood I surrender my whole life to you and from this day forward I will follow you all the days of my life touch me change me and transform me in Jesus name