Voices of Destiny 5 Warrior

And move forward into through challenge. Move forward into our destiny. We've talked about the voice of a friend, the voice that weeps with us, the voice that helps us connect and and engage our pleasure, that lifts weariness from our souls.

And then we moved on together to the voice of the priest, the voice that is actually that awkward conversation that oftentimes we seek to avoid, that helps us and awakens us to the wounds in our life, the voice of healing and growth for us. And then last time out, we looked together at the voice of the king, the voice of permission, the voice that helps awaken us to our wealth and to move forward. We're doing all of that through the story of David in first Samuel.

So today, we're going to pick up with the voice of the warrior. And every voice moves us forward in our life, but the voice of the warrior is crucial in establishing victory in our lives. It helps us acknowledge the fight that we were made for and the influence that's resting upon our lives. And so it is the voice of courage. If the voice of the priest is the voice of healing, and the voice of the king is the voice of freedom, the voice of the warrior is the voice of courage that leads us to experience our influence viscerally and tangibly. Make sure that it isn't just a conceptual thing that you have influence. And we're designed for greatness. In the same way that the king will awaken us to that, the warrior puts that in our hands. It makes that tangible, makes that real in our life. We get to experience that, and it summons us into greater adventure, and into greater risk, into greater reward.

And you know that you've been with the voice of the warrior because they are someone who will provoke you into risking more, into engaging more, into committing more, into an adventurous lifestyle. You can always tell when you're around an adventurous preacher or teacher because they're always compelling people to some kind of action, to take some kind of a hill. They're casting a vision for something. You'll find it the same in companies. They're driven, they're motivated, they're engaged. And all of that is with the recognition of the reward is on the other side of a risk.

And as we go through this today, one of the things you want to discover together is that the warrior's obsession is the completion of your mission. And so for them, your survival is optional. They're not that interested on whether you make it out alive, as long as the hill is taken. And so it's just good to recognize when you're around that voice. It speaks boldly so we can discover the fullness on the other side of our warfare.

And so the king will speak to your greatness, but sometimes kings will actually have trouble with the boldness with which you express your greatness. You often see this actually with parents who encourage their kids to go for it and and to express themselves, and then when the kid does, they're like, "Oh my goodness, don't be so bold, don't be cheeky, don't be..." And and uh, it's that recognition that the the warrior, there'll be a boldness about this, there'll be a fierceness and a rawness, not only about the conversation, but about the way that they call you to prosecute your mission and help you engage expansion in that.

And so the mindset really is, a noble death is better than an average life. A noble death is better than an average life. And so again, they're not that interested in our survival. It is a commanding voice, as you would expect. It is one that shatters indecision in our life. You want to frustrate the life out of a warrior, spend all your days exploring options and not making a decision, and they will gladly choke the life out of you. And of course, it demands action then. So it questions our inaction. It it pokes and prods at that when you don't take action, our self-imposed limitations and preservations.

And one of the things that they're trying to get us to do, if uh, we'll cover this a little later, but if the priest, if the if the friend speaks to our heart, and the priest speaks to our soul, and the king speaks to our minds, what the warrior wants to do is help us to fully claim our strengths, to lean fully into those, and to embrace those, and to enjoy the strengths that God has given us, and to recognize actually the purpose for those strengths, and ultimately to use those strengths for the destiny of others, to help others step into fullness for their lives.

And so, and they help us claim those strengths, and they release in us the awareness of our tribe, the people who we're called to do life with, but also the territory. And again, we'll cover this as we go through today. Um, and so we really need, as as demanding as their voice can be, we actually really need the pressure of the warrior at times in our life. We need them applying that pressure that moves us forward, that calls us out and onwards in our journey. We need the power of the warrior. We actually need them to help us obtain those things that we have in our heart. We recognize we can't do it by ourselves. So we need that voice not only guiding, but sometimes actually coming with us in establishing us in something. And and we need the performance of the warrior if we're going to move from crisis to fullness.

Of course, in all of these voices, as we've said all the way through, these are not chronological necessarily. They're emblematic or symptomatic of seasons in our life. My conclusions, I keep journeying as I think these are, uh, even though I'm saying they're not chronological, I can see this linear pattern that is within them. But behind all of that is the recognition of this is a voice that reveals to us the nature and the character of God. And right at the core bedrock of our conversation together is the awareness, just that we need more than friends to go through life. And the myth of the culture is, all you need is friends. If you just have some friends, and you figure out your purpose, you're set up. And we're trying in some ways to dispel that and say, what will happen if we look at our friends to be the source of each of these voices in our life? We'll end up with depleting friendships, frustrated in our friendships, or we'll miss the engagement with our purpose. We won't engage it as fully as the Father would desire. And we'll actually miss something even more central to that, which is the recognition of God and who He wants to be the beater in a particular season.

The Bible says, "The Lord is a warrior." The Lord is a warrior. So there are times when His voice over is, it's not something He does, it's who He is. And His times, His voice over is the voice of war. It's the call to action. It's the call to, if we were putting it in a biblical phrase, "Arise, arise." Not just embrace, but arise and engage.

Andre is on the call again today. I'm so thankful for Andre's voice in my life. But I can remember one time chatting with Andre, and she was talking as only Andre can. She was opening up the scriptures in a beautiful way, and she was talking about the story of Peter, moving from, um, the time of the crucifixion and the almost coward and fear, and in the room locked in fear. And she said, "And then he stood up on the Day of Pentecost." And she rolled her shoulders back, said, "He stood up on the Day of Pentecost." And in that moment, that's Peter embracing and claiming his strengths by the power of the Spirit. That's him arising into his uniqueness.

And so this is the voice of the Lord that helps us arise. He summons us into war. So David is on the journey. He's been with the king, he's been with the priest, he's felt the wounds that cut him deep. He's, uh, recognized that he's played the role of the giant killer. Now he's tackling things in the soul, and he's been to the depths of soul, but he hasn't yet fulfilled or experienced the fullness of his destiny. And it's time for him to have move on from the conversation with the king, which is invaluable in understanding royal identity and authority in our life. But actually spending too much time with the king will subvert our destiny.

Now, here's what will happen actually if you spend two. Remember we said the voice, the king awakens you to your own wealth. What will happen in a negative way is if you spend too much time with the voice of the king, they'll actually connect you into their kingdom. They will use your strength to build what the Lord has called them to build, rather than unleash you and unlock in you what the Lord has called you to build. So they'll start, because kings, they recognize kingship. But if you don't go out and engage it and take the territory, they'll just start deploying you for their domain. Because they'll think, "If you're still around here, you can't be a king. You must just be a warrior for my kingdom." And so recognize that king's ability, um, to worry you is the great danger for you losing you. There is something attractive and charismatic about kings. There's something enjoyable, and they have an ability to worse. But because we love being around them, sometimes we forfeit the next part of our calling.

And so it's, it's being careful that their domain doesn't masquerade as your destiny. Because there's a lot in, there's a lot of fullness, there's a lot of abundance around the domain of a king, and it can feel like a bit. Like we said with David, he'd already been with Saul. He was experienced the benefits, the joy of the kingdom. Problem was, it wasn't his kingdom. It wasn't what the Lord had for him. So you need to know when it's time to move on from the king and the king conversation, otherwise permission can become a distraction.

And around your weapons, see that classic his own weapons. As I mentioned, they may approve of your greatness, but be apprehensive, uh, around your boldness. In other words, your the way that you go about your mission to them seems a little bit raw, a little bit unrefined, a little bit untamed. And lastly, that the king will provide your future. Actually, not lastly, they'll provide for your future, but they won't necessarily procure your future. So they're not going to come with you to take the hill or to engage the warfare. They're just going to provide the tools that you need in that.

So in all of that, we need the voice of a warrior. We need that by speaking over us and into us and engaging us in a fresh way. This is the voice that triggers the season of empowering, the season of expansion, and the season of establishment. And again, we put those in three different colors in your notes there. I hope that comes out in your notes to say that actually the first word there is kind of like your entrance into the season. The middle word, expansion, is is the heart of the season. And then as you're moving towards the next step, the step with the warrior, it is the establishment. The the warrior will have come and will have established or helped you get established in what it is the Lord has to be. If we were adding another either, we'd see this say, the season of excellence. The season with the king is the season of abundance. The season of the warrior is the season of claiming your excellence. So that's what the the warriors do with this.

Let's pick up the conversation, and then we'll jump right in. Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your Spirit. Thank you for your insight, revelation. Father, we pray today, would you equip us again for the journey ahead? Would you help us to recognize where we can lean into the fullness of your voice as a warrior in our life? Would you help us to identify the people who help us engage with that, and to identify those moments where we can help others move forward in claiming their strengths? And we bless you in Jesus' name.

So the conversation is that David left God and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. And all those who were in distress, or in debt, or discontented, gathered around him, and he became their commander, or he became their captain. And it's that little phrase there that gives us the clue to this is the warrior season for David. He's now become a captain of an army in there, and about 400 were with them. And from there, David went to Mizpah in Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, "Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?" And he's really saying, "Hey, I need to figure out what I'm for. I need to figure out what's for me, and I need to figure out what I'm for." And again, it's a really good indicator, a really good clue of the sign of the season of the warrior. You're like, "Okay, what am I for? And how am I going to go about it?" So he left them with the king of Moab. And they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.

So I want to pick up and journey some of that a little bit later. Kings awaken our greatness. Warriors focus our strengths. They help us recognize what those are, and they awaken us to our weapons and our terrain. So in all of this, we recognize that the warrior enhances our weapons and our skills. They help us to identify, "This is what is in your life. Here is the unique thing that you carry." In the same as a king does, then they teach you how to wield that thing, how to use that, how to exercise that, how to put it into practice. They may speak, for example, into the realm of your finances and teach you how to engage those appropriately. They may speak into your vocation and what it is you do for a living and teach you how to maximize. These are the maximizing voices in our life. They take the strength, it's their, the inherent strength at times, the hidden strength, and they optimize it, and they maximize it, and they make it visible. And of course, they benefit from it, but you benefit from it all the more. And they show you how to take actions despite your limitations.

So not everything in this moment for David, not everything is working for him. Not everything is as he believed it would be. There are lots of limitations. But a warrior's voice is not particularly interested in your limitations. In fact, if you want to, um, not offend the warrior voice, but if you want to, um, again, probably frustrate and almost ensure that they don't gravitate towards your life, keep talking up your weakness. Like they, they're not big people on transparency. They're about the mission. They don't want to hear anything that even remotely sounds like an excuse. And so these are the people who make the Nike adverts, or whatever it is. They are like, "No excuses" people. That's how they operate in their life. And and they want to know, "Where are you going? Where are you going?" So they'll ask that kind of question, "Where are you going? What's your life mission? What's your, what's your life mission? How are you, how are you going to go about that? What's in your disposal? What have you got in your hand right now? I know that you've got lots missing, but what's in your hand right now? What are you going to use it for? How are you going to move forward with it?"

They remind you that your biography is not your destiny, but your story so far. That's not your destiny. That you're not a victim. That you're moving forward. And that where you came from is not nearly as important as where you're going. So they look at you and they're like, "Yeah, it doesn't really matter what your background is. What we want to know is where are you going? And how are you getting there?" Um, classic one in culture, I don't know how this translates across in the European context, but certainly here in the U.S. is a man called Tony Robbins. Is if ever there was the voice of a warrior, that is Tony Robbins. It's just classic pumping motivational speeches, engagement, all of that sort of thing. And again, their goal here is to come with us on the journey. So they call out the conqueror in us. They help us identify that you are more than a conqueror. Warriors have these kind of Bible verses written on them. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Yes, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

And you might recognize today, actually, this might be a leaning in your life. You might realize, "That's kind of the voice that I lean into others with." When they come in brokenness, I am like, "Suck it up, buttercup." I am kinda, I'm too strong with them. I'm too directive. I'm too prescriptive. I don't really listen to their pain. I just want to awaken them to the power of resting on their life. If your friends speak to your family, and priests speak to your history, and kings speak to your authority, then warriors speak to your territory. What are you on the earth to claim? What is your inheritance? Here's what lies before you. Let's get after it. Let's get after it together. Because they are deeply attracted to your strength. They might actually show up in a time of weakness in your life, like these guys do. Like that might be the entrance to your life, but the attraction and the connection is based around your strength.

We're going to do a little bit right at the end today, actually quite a significant section rather than the end today, of time alarms where we'll look at just some of the distinctions of how warriors engage. But I just want to preview that a little bit by saying that, um, with with warriors, in terms of how they, how they look at things and taking things together, that warriors aren't necessarily for you. Sometimes warriors are against what you're against, and that's there's a coalition against that. So, or sometimes therefore what you're for, but it doesn't mean they're for you. They're for your mission. They're for what it is that you're trying to accomplish. They're not looking to be your friend. They're warriors. They're not. That doesn't mean there's not a relational connection. Doesn't mean there's not a shared loyalty. It doesn't even mean there's not great joy in the conversation. But their goal is not your friendship. The goal is your mission. The goal is not connection. The goal is expansion. The goal is, uh, not intimacy, it's your inheritance. And so recognizing that and understanding that is going to be helpful.

Priests speak cleansing. Kings speak calling. And warriors speak conquest. You were made to conquer something. So again and again, they'll call that, uh, they just want to take something. They get bored sitting around for too long. I have a friend in my life right now, just say to me, "I'm bored." And he's bored because he's a classic archetypal warrior. Like, "Haven't taken a hill in about two days. I want to take a hill. What the hell are we taking now?" And so it's just good to recognize that's part of the journey. Warriors just will not allow us to stay stuck. Like there's nothing, there's nothing in them. So they're great people, actually, when you don't know what action to take. Great people for helping us get unstuck. Friends will allow us to do that. We've talked about that before. But if a warrior sees that you're stuck, they'll come in and shake whatever they need to shake. They'll shake a mindset, they'll shake an apathy, they'll shake you into decision. They'll say things like, "No decision is a decision." They'll just, they'll just keep going after it with you. And they will come, they will actively come against your weakness. They will actively come against your weakness because their design and their desire, and I would believe actually their assignment from heaven, is to help you see your strength, to help you engage your strength, to claim it. They will actively come against your weakness.

They make us feel like challenge is a great thing. Like they make challenge sound exciting rather than exhausting, invigorating, wild, and depleting. They, they upsell the challenge. They're like, "This will be the greatest adventure ever." And they are just, it's almost like they don't see the obstacles. All they can see is the opportunity to overcome. Like, "Let's do this. Let's move in that way." And so when we are with the warriors, we're coming into that season of claiming our strength. And what happens is this, when we, when sometimes it's really difficult to figure out, well, who are the warriors in my life? And again, they usually manifest on assignment. They manifest as you're embracing your assignment, as you're coming out of your woundedness, as you're discovering your wealth, and you're like, "Yeah, much locator." Your mindset is shifting, as has happened with David here. That's when the warriors begin to appear on the scene. Notice that they haven't come into the text until this moment. And that's what happens as we begin to engage with our purpose. People begin to connect with us. Uh, often actually historically, I'll have said it's usually, uh, younger women, not always younger women, it's usually women in this that I'll say to them, "You know, you're looking for a partner right now, but if you'll go after your purpose, your partner will begin to emerge. You've made your partner your purpose. But if you'll actually lean into what it is that you're about, if you'll lean into your identity, your fullness, and start to engage that, that will be compellingly attractive to others." And a partner begins to emerge out of that. And I know that's overly simplistic, but that is classic warrior counsel to say, "Hey, it's your purpose that attracts people to you in life. It's the energy that you bring. It's all of that stuff." And the kind of people that attracts, there's possibility people. When they see you get any success, they love success. If they see you get any success, they will gather and gravitate around that to not to claim a part of it for themselves, although some perhaps might do that, but actually bolster that so that the victory is even more visible, so that it's even more noticeable in your life. They want to see you established in victory. And so your tribe begins to emerge as you go after your purpose. Possibility people start gathering. Kingdom conversations, kingdom connections will happen, and you'll discover people who have a very similar voice in that. It's the voice that signals and triggers the season of the establishment. Again, their love language is victory. They want to see us established. And so they come into our life for establishment, to establish the new thing in our life that God spoke to us about way back through the prophetic.

So like, uh, and and we'll see on Monday, it is now actually, um, we'll see that the interesting thing about the prophetic voice is they almost spoken the season. So they're like the first and the last voice. They're like the entrance and the exit in this, which is why I had a little bit of difficulty in knowing where to position them. But the the warrior will come in. So the very thing that God spoke to you about a way back actually gets established. That it wasn't just a promise, that actually through patience and through warfare and through engagement, it gets established in our life. And of course, that's when we need the most. We need them to help us establish it. Uh, perhaps you are in this position, or you perhaps you know others who have a sense of what God's called them to do, but they just don't know how to go about it. They really are aware of, "Yeah, I do have calling, and I, I'm not, I'm not timid around my greatness. I really do believe God has given me authority. I just don't know what to do with what I have in my hands. I don't know the next step to take." It's like David saying, "Here, stay here. I need to go figure out how I'm supposed to do what it is and what God will do for me in this." And so again, it's a victory mentality. And because it's a victory mentality, there's always challenge on their lips. They're always challenging. We've talked together before that this is the personal trainer of the voices. This is the one that is, no matter how well you're doing, they're calling you to do more. I think my brother was, uh, toying with the idea of jumping on some of these together, but my brother's like this in my life again and again. He'll just, it doesn't matter how well things are going, he'll call me into more. It doesn't, I could see, I could see eight people come to Jesus in a day, and he would be like, "Only eight? Only?" Like, "Yeah, how many? How many have you seen?" And he, he'll just, he'll just keep pushing. He'll keep pushing because he wants to see victory established. And you're blessed to have a group of people around your life. He'll keep pushing you in that way. He'll keep demanding the best from you. He keeps saying, "I can see more in you. I can see." A warrior's not interested in your potential. They're interested in your actual. In a warrior's mind, potential is for losers. Accomplishment is what they're about. Fulfillment is what they're about. That's like a really sad word in the life of the warrior. They're like, "Let's get this done. Let's not be talking about it. Let's get it done." So they, there's challenge in their lip. And and they desire and demand the best from us. They call it out of us. They speak it over us. And as we've said before, as a result, all of that, this is probably the last person you want to go to when you need a rest. These, these are probably the last people you want to go to when you feel wounded, when your heart is in need of recovery. You probably want to avoid the warrior conversation, which is why sometimes we get offended when we choose that friend who has a warrior mindset when we're really tired, and they, it just feels like there's a disconnect. We share our pain or wound, and they, they just, it's like they haven't even heard that at all. They just call us to the next challenge.

And so, uh, we're going to pause. We're going to pause there, guys. Just take a few questions on that. We'll jump in a little bit more in a few moments. But if you want to fire them up in the chat there, there's we're thinking through that voice that just helps us establish something in the earth. They're basically saying, "You were formed to abolish something or formed to establish something." It's quite interesting as you're formulating your questions there. So I look at the U.S. right now as a kind of foreigner on these shores, and I see just the voice of the warrior prevailing on in every area of culture. It's like everything's a fight right now. It's, it's like it's the only mode that people have, even despite the wounds that are going on. Everything's a fight for people. They've got their battleheads on. And so it's just, it's just interesting to watch at times when a voice can can dominate in a culture, despite us actually being in that place where what we most need right now is something healing our wounds. You know, what is COVID-19 and all that? That's only my perspective. So let's see what we have in terms of any any questions that are coming in.

Craig, great to have you on the call again, my friend. In this season, more and more I've realized that I am the warrior. That's it. It's great attracting other warriors, but to those who need a priest, I seem insensitive. How do we as leaders not alienate those who aren't as responsive to who we are?

Craig, that's, it's a brilliant insight and analysis there and awareness, actually. And I think that's, that's a huge part of it. Just that self-awareness that says, "Yep, this is the predominant voice in my life. This is what I'm motivated to do." And here are the seasons where lending my voice and its fullness is going to work optimally. And I know you, so I know that you lead a group of people. It's going to work optimally in leading this group of people. For your sanity and for your destiny, you need the warriors around you. So I would be completely unapologetic and unashamed to raise your voice in that way. But in answering the question, as I know you are, but in answering the question in terms of dealing with sensitivity, yeah, sometimes it is, it's a little bit, they had a clip here years ago, Craig, you might have seen it, by a guy called Newhart, and somebody comes to him for counseling and and and he says something like, "How did it all start?" And they say, "Well, it started with my father." And he's like, "We don't do that. We don't go there. We don't talk about the past." And it's a little bit like this when you want counsel from a warrior, like, "We don't do this. We don't talk about this." So I would encourage you to, as much as you can, lean in and almost, yeah, and I realize this is going to feel unnatural and awkward, and as much as you can, just practice phraseology. "Yes, I understand that. Tell me more." You know, just, just, uh, just practice repeating back, like just learning. You're great at that stuff, you wonderful learner. Just them practice leading in with certain phrases and and helping people actually say, "If they're coming to you on wounds, I don't think there's any, um, any lack in this. I'm just saying, look, this is not me at my best. Like, I'm going to be great for you on taking hills. This is not what I do particularly well. But if you want my view of it, suck it up. Now, if you want my view of it, here it is." And just recognizing the limitations in that. Quick, so I hope that's helpful.

Andrea, Holly, endings, the fine beginnings, and transition. We need the prophetic voice at the end. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That's, that's, uh, how it works. They, they introduce the season and they immerse it, and then they bring a completeness to the season and the new assignment for the season ahead. It's, it's beautiful. It's beautiful. And endings is a lovely way to phrase that. One of my other friends in, in life, back in the UK, his name is Mark. And Mark is an absolute warrior. He's built like a warrior. We actually call him the Jedi Master because that's the zone that he's in. If you're with Mark, pretty much you're going to hear stories the whole time, and he's going to tell stories of exploits. And it's not him boasting at all. That he's actually really humble, really gentle guy. But he's going to tell the stories from his battles. He describes, if you're around him, he's like, "Here's what happened next." And he's doing that to encourage us to engage in exploits. It's a beautiful, uh, warrior thing. And so they'll often say, "You know, how's the war going? What is happening with you?" And that, now he is a dear friend, but I wouldn't go to him for counsel because that's unfair on him. It's not his skill set. It's not. Now he's wise, and he's smart, and he's helpful and engaging, but I know where Mark, the strength of that connection together is on the field of battle. That's where the strength is. That's where it comes alive on that. They don't want to be our counselors. This comes back to Craig's question a little. They don't want to be our counselors. They want to be warriors with this. They want to take something with us. So it's the voice that helps us in that. And, um, it's the voice that triggers and sees and signals and triggers the season of empowering. We empower us to live with impact and to handle our impact with honor and to do that well. And and they help us in this. They help us run after all that God has written in our heart. I know God has hidden something here. Let me help you run.

So the king provides permission to engage our influence without concern or the fear of arrogance. That's where the king will say, "Don't worry, this is not arrogance. It's you claiming who you are and what you're for and owning that and embracing it." But the warrior will provide acceleration in that. So the king will provide permission, but the warrior will provide acceleration. They'll move you further, faster. And they love doing that. It's like, "How far can we get? And how fast can we get there?" The acceleration in the mission and expansion in the mission in the warrior season. And I think this is particularly helpful in the warrior season. The presence of God, which is what the priest helps us awaken to. The permission of God, which is what the king will bring in. And the passion of God is working powerfully within us. And so when we're living in the fullness of that season, it's like those three things converge in our life. And it's, this is Paul's statement where he says, "I work so powerfully with the energy of Christ in me." That awareness of this is what was coming together. My pleasure in this, the permission that I had, and my passion were won, and I was running with fullness in that. It creates a sense, almost a fresh emergence. And again, we can see that right here in the text with David as he emerges into. And that emergence is just exhilarating. It's almost like you found your purpose, and you can see it. It's no longer just in your head or your heart. You can actually see it being at work through your hands. And it's that moment you're like, "I was made for this. I'm doing what I was made for. I have people around me who were made for it too, and who get what I'm doing, and who who are helping me do what I'm doing." And it is, um, just exhilarating.

Of course, as we've said, it's cyclical. You know, there'll be moments in life where this happens, and after a while, the Lord will shake it up, and He'll introduce the prophet with a new message and a new mission and a new inscription for us, and it'll move on. But man, that's a blessed season. That season of exhilaration and engagement and the awareness of, "I was made, I was made for this." And it would be amazing if everyone experienced that, but sadly, I don't think that's true. I don't think that, uh, many people even experience this in their life. And so it's the emergence of the purpose of God beginning to manifest in our lives. That whole thing that it says of David, "He served the purpose of God in his generation." And so, uh, you begin to see it happening around you, the purpose that God has called you to, and you feel it rooting within you. It just goes in. And so this is not, uh, warrior is is within us, not the voice, the warrior, but within us is not a fake until you make it thing. It's, it's not that. It's like this deep, it's like a rod of steel, a rod of courage that comes from the courageous voice that just goes in us.

Now, Joshua is about to lead them into the promised land. I know we're all believers on this. That he's about to lead them into the promised land. What is the word the Lord speaks to him? Wish we were in the room together, and you would say, "The Lord speaks to him, 'Be strong and courageous.'" What voice is that? "Don't be afraid. Be strong and courageous." That's the voice of a warrior right there. Right? What would the voice of the priest say? It would say, "Consecrate yourself." And a little later, he does that. He'd say, "Examine it. Put away all the motivations that are unholy, that are unclean." Voice the king would say, "You have permission. Go for it." But in this moment, because he's taken territory, because he's about to sign the inheritance, because he's in the middle of the warfare, the Lord speaks that way. And so, so often people will say, "Did you know that the words 'Do not be afraid' occur 365 times, or 366 times in the Bible?" And the reason for that is that is the voice of the warrior coming in and saying, "Hey, don't be afraid of what it is that I've put in you. Don't be afraid of what it is that I've called you to engage. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid." Mary, here's your assignment for the season. I want you to carry it. Once you carry it to fullness. And so that's, uh, helpful for you as you begin to engage and study in that self-directness that is partly the voice of the warrior in that.

And so warriors empower and take initiative. When the warrior conversation is missing in our life, we get stuck. We lose our edge and our growth. We, and actually, um, yeah, yeah, we lose our edge and our growth. And and we go over the same old ground again and again and again. And sometimes you'll see people who get stuck in the warrior season, and they're telling the stories from a number of years ago, and they're just repeating the same patterns and practices, and they don't know it. But either they are desperate for the voice of the prophet to intervene in that moment to call them into something new and put a fresh purpose in their life, or actually they've resisted the voice of the prophet that's already come and called them into that. And they were so busy enjoying the fruit of their labor, and so busy enjoying the success of the previous victory, that they didn't want to trade the victory that they were experiencing for the destiny that the Lord had for them. And that's one of the challenges that comes with that.

So these are people who are great to look out for when you're afraid of doing something. They're going to be a great voice to say, "Go for it." Look out for them in those moments. And not so in a conversation, the warrior is wondering, "What will you do with your kingdom authority? Yes, you have it, but what will you do with it? What is it that you're fighting for? What kind of champion will you be? And how will your community and your city be different because of your actions? How will your city and your community be different because of your actions?" As we've said previously, this is not a conversation for the faint-hearted. This really is a conversation for the doer. Um, again, the disqualification. A warrior will disqualify you from their company if you don't take action. In the same way that the army would disqualify you from being part of it if you refuse to obey the order, if you refuse to take action on the field. And so warriors will do that with this. They are willing to risk the relationship to move you forward and your purpose. They're like, "Yep, I'm okay. I'm okay if you don't need me or don't want me to be your friend anymore, because I cannot sit and watch you not engage your purpose." And so that's okay. This is where I get off the train. This is where you're staying. This is my stop. And they begin to do that.

And so, uh, some of the questions that are helpful in asking whether this is the season that you're in, or this is the conversation that you might want to have, is the question, "Is this a season of risk? Is this a season where the Lord is calling me to take risks?" Do I sense that? And the deeper question in that is, "Might be, is God calling me to step into victory?" Yeah. Another key question might be, "What is the adventure?" If you find yourself going around asking that question on a regular basis, "What is the adventure that I was born for? What is it that I'm supposed to do?" That's almost exactly the question David asked in the passage. "I want to figure out what it is that God has for me." And that deeper question, "What action will lead to the establishment of my destiny? Not what thinking, but what action? What can I do today? What do I need to do today? In this, am I learning to handle impact? Uh, and what will that look like?" You know, sometimes the Lord will awaken you to your authority, and it will lead to great honor in your life, and it will actually lead to significant favor, perhaps in the workplace. You'll get a promotion or whatever. And we don't always immediately know how to handle that. We don't always immediately know how to handle the new responsibilities that come with it, the new opportunities, the new resources that come with it. And the warrior helps us do that. They help shows, actually, "Here's what these tools are." Remember, they introduce your weapons. They're like, "This is a weapon. This resource that you have. This is a weapon. This responsibility that you have. This is a weapon." But it's a weapon to serve others. Really important to remember that. "How do I maximize my resources in this season?" Again, just a really helpful, uh, question in that. On a deeper question, "Who do I need to become to embrace my future?"

So, so an an example of this, uh, just prior to, uh, our departure from the UK, I was, I was doing a lot of speaking and a lot of travel in different places. And it isn't really, initially, when you move into any season, there's an awkwardness that surrounds the season because you're learning how to embrace it for what it is. And it, it wasn't initially, it wasn't something that I wanted to do, particularly. The idea was exciting to me, but the practicality of getting on planes, of meeting with strangers in new places, of showing up, um, of sometimes, candidly, between us, uh, sometimes the pressure to deliver, like, here's people who've flown you into a place, and you have to be good, like you have to be on it. And then of course, I know it's Jesus, but at the same time, you're like, "Yeah, these people are asking me that, they provided me, and all of that." And sometimes the pressure of that, that there is a pressure that warfare brings. There's a pressure that the season of the warrior brings. And how to handle the impact well and steward it. But then there would be things like, um, because warriors are about impact, they want to take what God has given you and multiply it. So be small things. Now, this is in my world. And for years, back in those days, for years, it might be different, um, but I would have a real reluctance, even, even yet, you'll rarely ever hear me talk about my book. It's like, it's just like a, it's not something that I do, particularly. But warriors will be like, "You have a tool there. Use that tool. Highlight it. Like you're giving a talk, make sure you flag up the tool for people." Or product, or whatever it is. They would do that. And over time, they taught me to actually embrace that as one of my weapons. And so now I do stuff like this because I was exposed to warriors. They're like, "Yeah, you've got something that you have to learn how to use it." So they're just invaluable in that in maximizing resources and saying, "Hey." And for a priest, my goodness, and probably as much as anyone else, but for someone with a priestly inclination, they have to be dragged to that place. So, um, I would say the people who have the greatest struggle in activating, uh, their inner warriors, so to speak, that doesn't sound very Mr. Miyagi. I would say the people who have the greatest struggle in that are probably the priests, and, um, the prophet to some degree, and the friend. The friend will struggle a little bit in that because they don't want to antagonize anything or upset anyone. And so they, they sometimes struggle around that. So some of those questions are helpful in that.

Um, I think today, I realize we're not in the room together, so I can't really ask your permission in this, even though, uh, virtually, that is what I would like to do. I think today, what I'd like to do is just get a little bit more time for questions here, and then lean in. I was talking with the idea of doing this as a bonus section right at the end, but then we lean in together onto the shadow side of warriors and some of the recognition of the warrior at war, and what that looks like in our life. So if that, if that sounds agreeable to you, um, would you just raise your hand or do the little thing that you do, and and then we have that awareness there. If you would rather do that, the other option is to go into breakout rooms for 15 minutes or so where we process this together. And I'm just not sure what would be most beneficial. So, uh, at risk of alienating everyone, would you again, would you raise your hand? We get to see on that if you would, if you're

Happy enough just sticking in and doing this. Yeah, okay. That, that's almost, it's almost universal in that. So, um, let's talk about then some of the shadow aspect. I got, actually, let's do a few questions and then we'll talk about the shadow aspect of the voice of the warrior. And we'll lean into the warrior, uh, war, and, and just open up a little bit more on that. I just felt that was might be helpful for us today.

Stuart, great to have you. Just, I have no idea what time it is in South Africa, my friend, but thank you for engaging with us. Has covered stopped warriors at all, or are they full steam all the time? You know, they probably see covered as a challenge to overcome. So they, they were born for adversity. They were born for difficulty. They're like, "Yep, let's get after this. This is another problem to solve." It's not to say that they don't feel the impact the same as others, but their mindset is, "Great, we have a challenge here. What are we going to do about this?" And so they, um, they'll approach it slightly differently in that.

And, and of course, um, if we were leaning into the shadow side, what it's done for some is it's made them aggressive in their pursuit. It's made them angry. Others, uh, blaming. You know, part of the text here is they were distressed, discontented, and indebted. In other words, they too had a problem with the government. And so they, David was a natural fit for them, right? Like, "We have a problem with the government. David, you're on the run from the king. We're all against King Saul. So, so let's just be together against King Saul." And that. So I think that's the other unhealthy aspect in that.

Tony, great to have you in the call, my friend. Hope it's all going well for you. At worst, seem great at starting new projects, but often not in managing it later. Yes, yes, yes, absolutely true, Tony. They're just take the hill people. They don't want to be managing. They want to be on mission. Absolutely true. Who do they need to come alongside later to help them learning to manage? Um, it's a great question. Enough. There are some people whose greatest joy in war is to manage. You know, so there's some people who are absolutely wired as warriors for management, if that makes sense, Tony. So they, they look at it and they say, "My challenge is to make this complexity and there's chaos and turn it into order." And they're like, "That is my hill. I would die on that hill." So if you can find someone like that, we can optimize it. That can be really helpful in that.

And, but also sometimes, just, we're going to lean into this the moment. Just sometimes the perspective of the prophet in this is really helpful for warriors to help them identify. They're going to run wild. They're like, they're like a two-year-old boy, you know, they're going to run with energy at everything, and they just need a little direction as to where to apply. Like, "Move it over here." Sometimes the prophetic conversation can be really helpful for them. And especially, actually, especially where it will help is when they've been winded in the war. Like, that's when they're really responsive. That's when they're really open. It's like, "Yeah, I did that. Got beaten up a little." And, uh, they feel it there.

John, great to have you, my friend. As a priest, did you feel you needed to do anything to maintain or protect those strengths as you moved into the warrior season? Yeah, I think I understand the question there, John. Um, yeah, I think as a, as a priest, you, you're so careful on the area of consecration and motivation. You don't want to do anything that looks unclean or that isn't pure. Um, so there's a safeguarding around that. And some of the, a good example of this, actually, formed the life of David, is when he's with the warriors in the cave and Saul comes in. I don't know if you remember that story, John. Saul comes into the cave to relieve himself, and the warriors are like, "This is the moment, David. Like, God has given your enemy into your hand. Like, take his life." And David has that kind of conviction in him that he is a different, he's a healed warrior. He's been to see the priest. And what he does is he creeps up and he cuts off the corner of Saul's robe, and he doesn't take his life in that moment. And a full-on warrior would be like, "We expand, no matter the cost. We expand, no matter who gets." When they did it, that's a full-on warrior. But an awareness of the priest will stop you using expansion for your own gain. We'll stop you doing that in a way that that just magnifies who you are, and will ensure that that's harnessed to the value of serving others. I think that's where the priest has helped me in that, John. I think some of your questions might have related to that, and I hope that's helpful.

Lisa, wonderful to have you. I have a lot of questions about purpose, but not too many answers. Yeah, with you. I feel like I'm receiving favor in many situations, but still not sure of the next step. Yes, yes. This is, uh, it can be, it can be a signal or a herald of that season. It may not yet be here in its fullness, Lisa, but it's a sign that that's coming to you. If you favor that you don't know what to do with, you probably need some people, uh, partly a king, but also some warriors to help you maximize it in that and to move into that with you. I would get started because, like we said earlier, as you're on your way, that's where they emerge. You know, that's where they begin to gather around you. So, um, rather than waiting until you have a band of warriors around you before you begin, I would begin, and the band of warriors begins to function in that. And don't worry if your first endeavors and not feel a little clumsy and awkward. It's the same in any season as you're finding your voice in it.

Lisa, joy, joy to have you in this. Hope you're in your lovely manner. Well, my husband is a warrior, ex-army. Planted church together last June. It's been full steam ahead. All that he is, the human dynamo, and I steer him to the voice he may need to hear in order to have him rest a wee bit. Yes. Um, if you can, if you can help them see the, the best image that I have in this, Lisa, is almost those either medieval movies or like the other movies where even the warriors come home and feast, right? Even the warriors come home and they relax, and they drink beer, and they sing songs, and they cheer, and they remind themselves of the value of what it is. If you can teach them feasting in that, because part of the danger for warriors is they do go from hill to hill to hill to hill, and they actually, many of them don't stop to celebrate victories. They're actually, um, is that okay? I think it's okay to say this. They're actually not great people to have as your boss, like in a work context, because they will just keep pushing you all the way, and they don't stop. And, um, Daniel Goldman's work in this, if you're familiar with his work on emotional intelligence, Daniel Goldman talks about these particular personalities. And, and don't be, if Andy work, but the toxicity that they create in a team because they're so task-focused and so task-oriented. And remember, the obsession of the warrior is the completion of your mission, not your health as you go through it. So I would encourage him, and not Lisa, to say, "Hey, feast. Like, relax, unwind, enjoy the spoils of war. Look back two months ago and see what the Lord has done in the last two or three months, and rejoice in the story. And go write down the victories. Write the book. Sing the songs." I love that. When they go through that, "The Lord is a warrior" statement comes from Exodus 15, where the Lord has obliterated the Egyptians in that moment, and Miriam takes up her tambourine. She's like a warrior. She's like, "Oh yes, it is time to sing. It's time to write songs. It's time to rejoice." And we can learn in that to do that. That's going to be helpful in that.

Very extensive answer there. John, great to have you with us. Will a warrior want to do your missions with you, or like the king, leave you to get on with a co-laborer or a catalyst? No, they'll go with you as long as it suits their agenda, John. So they have their own mission at work. So they will, they'll come with you as long as they feel that's expanding and enlarging what it is they're called to do. A servant-hearted one will do for you and with you. Um, that leads us nicely, actually, into this component on the warrior at war, and just recognizing some of that, because, um, in the season of warriors, you're claiming your strength and its fullness, but your strength is finite, your energy is finite. And so we all have to watch where we spend our strength and what we focus our strength on. In other words, not every territory is your territory. Not every fight is your fight. Not every struggle is your struggle. And not everything is in your domain. So quite often, as you read through the chronicles and the kings in this, quite often what you'll see is that there are some kings who keep taking territory, keep moving forward, and then they get killed at a battle on their border that was never their battle. Josiah is a classic example of a reformer who died too early because he chose a battle that wasn't his, because he was just a warrior and didn't know when to stop firing. David comes to this moment in his life, actually, where his troops around him say, "Hey, we don't want you out in the battle. We almost lost you today. Like, it's time for you to stop fighting. Like, you've got to, you've got to go back." And so you've got to learn, "Here is your fight. This is your fight. This is your territory. This is your domain." And the shadow side of a warrior is, as we would say in Glasgow, they would start a fight in an empty house. Like, they will find something to pursue. They'll find something to be. And this is the shadow side and the unhealthy side. I'm not at all suggesting that all warriors are like this. It's when it's unhealthy in them. So you have to wage war within your sphere. You need the perspective of a warrior, the freedom of the king, and the insight of the prophet. And together, they help you see, "Oh my goodness, this is what I need to fight, and that's what I need to fight with all of my energy, and this one I need to fight now, and this is why this battle matters." And so you learn how to do that.

A great example of a warrior in scripture, of course, is Joshua in that moment. Um, the voice of a warrior again will help you to sound your wiring. And so they'll help you just figure out, "This is what I'm, I'm wired to do." Those unique giftings, callings, and strands, skills, passions, and weapons that God has put at your disposal. They'll help you work through that. Um, but you have to recognize that these are actually your instruments of peace. These are where you feel at ease and at home. If that's within you, like, "Oh my goodness, these, this is peace for me. I'm at peace. I feel," you know, the old Eric Liddell thing, "I feel his pleasure when I run." Warriors are like, "I feel his pleasure when I fight." This is peace to me. This is this is joy to me. This is righteousness to me. This is what it is to walk in the kingdom in these. And these are also the instruments of your hope. Like, "Oh my goodness, this is how I establish hope on the earth." Um, so again, refuse, refuse the shadow side of that of sabotaging those as you go by moving beyond your territory or into someone else's domain. Stay fixed. Stay engaged within your arena. Again, 2 Corinthians talks about, "We did not boast beyond our measure, but within the limits that God had given us. We did not overextend ourselves." And Paul, who was this kind of aggressive go-getter church planter warrior figure, is like, "Yep, we didn't, we didn't stray beyond what the Lord gives." So they help us discern, "What is your wiring?" And if, if you are a warrior, that's really helpful to know. And then secondly, "What is your wounding?" Because there are some fights that just resurface as you move on in life because we never did address the wound. So the shadow side of the warrior is they're still fighting with people who've forgotten about them years ago in their mind. I mean, or they're fighting issues that they may have wrestled with as a young person, fights from the past that the voice of the priest has not healed. He said, again, there are fights from the past that the voice of the priest hasn't healed. And so they just keep resurfacing. And the warrior finds themselves, uh, how does Paul phrase it? "Fears within and fightings with." That they're just in that zone where they're walking. And, and part of the reason that that hasn't healed is because our own agenda has concealed them. So we've just kept moving forward. And so where we find ourselves injured and fractured and dislocated and hurt and wounded, abandoned and confused, or misguided and misdirected, it's usually because we haven't gone into that space of healing. And that warrior was activated, but it wasn't activated with health. We're finding, um, an unhealthy warrior fights to prove themselves, not to give themselves. Right? That's the shadow side. They fight to show others that they were wrong. I saw something this week, I believe it was Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players ever. And when he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, if you ever have a chance to look at a speech on it, it was the speech of a wounded warrior. It was essentially, it was, it was hard to watch because here he is at a moment where he's being celebrated, and all he does is castigate everyone who ever didn't believe he could make it. And you're watching, I would someone who is whose greatness transcended their sport, but what you see in the speech is this wounded warrior, this person who was always fighting. And Paul says it this way, "And we didn't just fight the air. We weren't shadow boxing. We were fighting the real thing." And that, it's, it's really hard to search out your future when your wounding is not yet healed. And warriors are, um, again, don't want to be overly repetitive in this, but they really are the caricatures of the movies, you know, where the, the lady is shot three times, but she's still doing kung fu kicks. And you're like, "How are you doing this?" Like, this is just, they almost have that perspective is like, "Yep, I'm wounded, but I can, I'm still in the fight, and I can still engage this." So recognize when, yeah, your wounding surfaces because if you don't, in the shadow side of this, it'll cause warfare on your borders. Your wounds will cause you to create fights, and you'll think people are against you, and you'll think it's the enemy is against you when actually it's yours against you. You don't know how to cease being a warrior.

There's a wonderful story. It's not actually a wonderful story, it's a helpful analogy. It's a terrible story of a time when the US forces, and I believe it was the, I can't remember, and and other forces, I think it might even be Cuban, but I'm not entirely sure. Um, but where they were facing each other across a zone, and nothing had been fired. It's a peace zone. But eventually, one of the warriors starts firing because they're like, "This is what I was built to do. This is, this is what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to unload my weapons. That's what I do." And so again, if you can help them see, if you know someone who's wired than that, that not everything is a fight, not everything is a good fight, not everything is your fight. You're going to do a lot to help the warrior in the shadow. Just periodically saying to them, "Warrior, put down your sword." Maybe coming back to your question, that Lisa, maybe sometimes there's like, "Warrior, put down your sword." And that, maybe encourage them at times to go see the priest because before the wounding gets too severe, the bleeding gets too severe. So you're asking, "What is the war that comes from my wiring?" That's a question of what I was asking there. That's the skills, weapons, passions, all that. You're asking, "What is the war in my life that is just coming from my wounding, unresolved hurts and pains that I am creating fights around?" And then, "What is the war that is coming from my wrestle?" And these are the wrestles of our hearts. These are the wrestle of living and engaging in culture. That's the war that we're seeing in these moments. The wrestle of just living in cities and conversations and communities in that. And they're not specific to wounding, but what they are is just evidence of the daily grind. So again, warriors can be engaged in that kind of warfare. And then all that, what I'm trying to say is, don't go to war over things that the Lord hasn't called you to wage war. That's the shadow side of the warrior. They will, they will keep doing that. Recognize, um, what is your unique struggle? It's not enough to understand your expansion. It's not enough to come out of your confinement. It's not enough for you to have healing from your wounds. It's not enough for you to have success in one area. You have to understand your inheritance. And your inheritance isn't everything. It is a specific thing. If you can contain and confine your warfare to that, it will stop us spending our energy fruitlessly or needlessly. And the pathway of the warrior is one that is insight for particular favor and a particular future. Let me say that again. The pathway of the warrior is one that is insight for particular favor and a particular future. If you can learn to narrow that, it's going to be helpful.

So there's a lot more that I could say in that, but I can see there's a number of questions coming in. I want to make sure we, uh, address specifically what you guys are thinking there. Uh, I think we got John's question. Melanie, thanks so much. Great to have you in the call. Uh, character-wise, I relate a lot to the priest. As I learn more about the five voices, I more recognize the warrior in me. It's almost said I didn't want to connect with the warrior in me. Yes. Uh, I feel lack of authority to fight with the result of seeing victory, which makes me think I probably lack the king that leads me to my true identity. Yeah, I think that's very perceptive in that, Melanie. That the, the king actually gives us that opportunity to embrace our identity and our authority. That actually establishes us in a way where we're in a position in our life where we can truly claim our strength. And that is the difficulty that priests often have in that. And I think that's very perceptive. And I would encourage you to spend a good chunk of time just thinking that through and maybe journaling that and even praying that. Maybe a day of solitude and just saying, "Father, isn't anywhere in my life where this has shown up where I've been," priest love police love examination and inspection, probably more than action. It can often be a timidity. Like they're fierce. So on the one level, they are fierce in going after anything that lacks covenant consecration. So you get the moment of Phineas, and not Phineas and Ferb, but Phineas in the Old Testament, where he spears the people. It's like this aggressive act of war because there's a violation of covenant and a violation of consecration. And so they can have that part to them, and they can appear to be ruthless in that. And there is a little bit of the warrior. But when it comes to actually engaging and expanding their territory, there's often a lot of timidity around that. And often, actually, they're so happy in their inner world that they don't always engage taking territory in the material world around them. So the voice for king will definitely help in that, Melanie, and I hope that's helpful to you.

Lynn, so love having you on the call. Um, a lovely man, what a gift. As a warrior in my profession, I struggle with aspect of tension that it brings in relationship and tend to favor connection over the unbending voice of warrior. It makes an unusual combo. I swallow known if it's a unique gift or an area that I need growth in. Um, Andre, I wonder, I don't want to put you, well, I kind of am putting you on the spot, but it's not, feel free to, zero pressure on it is what I want to say. I just know that you have this wonderful thing that you talk about, kingdom combinations here. And I hear a little bit of this, that we don't always have to lay down the one to take up the other. Do you have any thought as you would respond to Lynn's question there? Um, I think when our whole reason detroit's connection, if we were a boxer, we'd always just be punching with the favored hand. And suddenly we see there are moments in what Alan's been talking about where the voice of the warrior is needed to land this knockout punch. And so if we're always just using the voice of connection, the voice of friendship, the voice of the priest, it's as if this other voice, or this other talent, and this other skill is locked away. And to really be victorious, there are moments where the combo has to come into action. And I think that's something we've got to learn, not to always do the favored thing, but to learn the strength of the other. Yeah, yeah. And, and so helpful. And I love, I love seeing your box. It's good fun. It's good fun. Um, and, and in that, Lynn, you can see in David's journey in that, you know, the, uh, one of the things that Andre very helpfully in the past has helped me identify is there's David was a shepherd, right? He was pastoral, he was connected in that. And he was a musician, he wrote psalms, he played for Saul. He was the one who slayed Goliath and took territory. He was the one that they sung about in their songs. He was a poet, he was a warrior, he was a songwriter, he was a king. I need all those things. And, an answer to your question in that, I, I think it is, it's, it's not as unusual as you might think in that. It's definitely a combination. And I would encourage you to embrace both and recognize actually the Lord has given you skill in both. It's, it's a great combination to have where you can connect with someone and really connect with their heart, but also lead them through their heart, encourage into the warfare that the Lord has for them, and help them identify where to apply that warfare in their, their life. And so, uh, just moving on a little bit in that question, not for, not still answering a question, but moving on. You know, when I, when I talked about the voice of a king, and some of the books that are helpful in, just the awareness, a skilled warrior will know that actually you cannot declare away everything. Like you can't declare your way into a different future. That they'll know that actually you have to activate weapons and skills and strategies and many advisors and all of those kind of things, and they'll work with that. And just having that awareness that actually, and when that king and a warrior pushes too far, they'll expect victory in every domain rather than the domain that the Lord is giving to them right now. So I want to encourage you as you do that, you're going to begin to find your tribe. You're going to begin to find your voice. And, and you're going to unlock the design and calling of others because as you raise your warrior cry, as you just lift it up, like as you release that into the earth, others are like, "This is the sand that I was born for. I was born for this sense." Like, it's like something comes alive in them. The priest comes alive under the warrior cry. The, the friend comes alive. And that because it awakens, it has this visceral nature that's just like, "This is what I was born for." And, uh, and you don't have to defend your cry. You don't have to say, "I'm so sorry, I know I made you nervous there by raising my voice loudly." You just let it rise up and let others rally who are in that season. They will rally towards it. And I think that's at times where even in my own timidity, there are times where I've known the Lord calling me to raise up a cry, and I've, I've been afraid that I didn't want to alienate others, and I didn't want to make everyone feel like this is the only slice. I like to be the priest. I like to bring wisdom. So I like to present a fuller picture. But there are times when you just need to raise up your voice with a cry that seems almost blind in its focus, that is singular in its focus, and others come behind that. And that's where you begin to get your tribe because your tribe comes from your passion and your action combined in expansion. They're like, "I would give myself to this." Once they see you moving forward in it, they'll give themselves to.

Shadow side a little more in that is that actually warriors don't like to give up their trophies. So they'll often stay, they'll stay in a place way beyond when they should. They'll stay with old victories because they don't like giving up their trophies. They don't lack, um, any degree of loss in their life. Like loss is kind of what they fear. They're a warrior. They've come from loss. And so they fear loss in that. And so, uh, just recognizing that the shadow side of that actually sometimes means when the Lord does come in and calls them to lay down or calls them to embrace something that can be a little more challenging when that shadow side is awakened. So a lot of stuff in that one, guys. I just wanted to spend a little bit more time across the board in that one. Uh, next time we're going to look at the voice of the prophet together. I'm really excited to engage in that because in some ways, it ties up some of what we've been looking together. But already, as you're coming into the warrior season, as you're coming out of that, you can hear the, the echo of the voice of the prophetic beginning to stir you for there must be more. Quite often, actually, you'll see this in business. There'll be a stage of life where somebody in business, perhaps the chief executive or whatever of the company, wakes up one day and they realize they've conquered all the hills. Like, yeah, like everything I wanted to do, I've done. I've accomplished. Solomon, there's a great example. Solomon is the epitome of someone who, um, when he had built the temple, he'd gone after it. When he had established trade routes and all of that, when the kingdom had expanded under his domain, and he was an expansionist king, he was, he made war, but he did it through trade and peace and all that. He just kept taking more and more territory, much greater than his father David had done. But then he just got bored. It's like he was a bored warrior. He was like, he just got bored. And he, and in his boredom, became very vulnerable. The shadow side kicked in, and he wouldn't embrace the prophetic voice in his life calling them into something new. And you see that in business. You see it in industry. I actually see it in church leaders quite often where they'll, they'll just, they'll take the hill and they'll take the territory in that. But then the shadow side will kick in, and they, they won't trade their success. They won't be willing to lay it all down to start again. And then periodically, you see someone like a Francis Chan, who's like, "Yep, I'm gonna cash it all in. I'm gone. I've got all this notoriety, all this visibility. I'm just gonna cash it all in, and I don't care. I'm gonna start again because the Lord has spoken." It's a beautiful thing.

So I'm going to ask one of the folks in our community who is both a priest and a warrior to pray us out today. I can see her on the call here. Cynthia, if you would, would you pray for us today? And that would be wonderful. Thanks, Alan. Yeah, Jesus, we do. We just, uh, invite your voice into our lives right now. And Jesus, I pray for those who are looking at themselves and have a bit of confusion, that you just come and bring clarity. Clarity what season they're in, what season they're going to be entering in. And Jesus, I do, I pray that the voice, your voice, would awaken and arise those to the call, the unique call on their life. Lord, I even pray this week that they would, uh, schedule those conversations that are necessary and that are needed to expand and to arise and to awaken to the destiny and the call that you've placed. In Jesus name. Yes.

Yes, I just want to, I just want to pray just a little bit more. And in this night, I want to pray for some of you who have been wounded because you have been faithful to what the Lord has spoken over you and to what he's given you as a war of a warrior, but it's wounded those around you. And it isn't, it isn't, um, because you did something wrong, and that you actually did exactly what the Lord called you to do to be a voice that moved them forward in purpose. They just weren't ready for it, and they couldn't embrace it. In the seasons left to some wounding. And so Father, I pray that you would begin to minister even now by your spirit, even now by your presence, you minister to the ones where people have had the courage to be the courageous voice into the lives of others, but that voice has been rejected, and that connection has been broken, and that relationship has been disrupted through offense that has crept in as the warriors sought to help them engage their weapons. And so, Lord, would you grace and minister to each one on the course today who is living in the shadow of that experience and the woundedness of that? And we speak and we say, "Arise, warriors! Arise in your passion! Arise into action! Arise into your commission! Arise recognizing that even though right now you may feel like you're in the cave, and you may feel a little disillusioned, and a little discouraged, and a little disempowered, arise knowing that the power of the Lord is with you. Do not be afraid. Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is with you wherever you go." And it is His great delight to see you enlivened and enlarged and expanded and engaged in taking the territory that He Himself goes before you to take. And I see spirit of the Lord just calling you forward and saying, "I know you were hurt in that, and I don't want you to be timid. Come on. I have not given you a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, and I have given you and called you to be a, a warrior and one who cries out, and your cry will awaken others. And those who have not yet been engaged with it, it's only because they couldn't see it. But I have people who will see it, and I have people who will engage with it. Do not be discouraged. Do not be afraid. Arise and engage. This is your time, and this is your season." I bless you now with the favor of the Father, with the fullness of the Spirit, with the wind of the Spirit that blows out just those, those fears and insecurities and wins and releases you to engage in fresh hope with fresh desire. In Jesus name. Um, amen.

Guys, God bless you. So grateful for you. So thankful. Cannot wait for whatever day it is. Monday. Enjoy those years in the UK. Enjoy your Friday night. So kind friends of Norway, enjoy your Friday night. Those in the US, enjoy. Let's start your weekend. God bless you guys. You.