Transcription
Would you whisper a word of prayer with me? Speak Lord for your servants are listening. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Amen. I would if you're able to stand that you might reverence the reading of the word of God that lays the foundation for what I believe God wants to speak into our hearing and our living today. I want you to hear the reading of 1st Samuel chapter 7 beginning in verse number one as I read from the New International Version of God's Holy Word.
1 Samuel chapter 7. So the men of Kirath Jereim came and took up the ark of the Lord. They brought it to Abendadab's house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar the son to guard the ark of the Lord. The ark remained in Kiraath Jereim a long time, 20 years in all.
Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So Samuel said to the Israelites, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the asheriths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only. and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." So the Israelites put away their bals and their asteriths and serve the Lord only.
Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mispa, and I will intercede with the Lord for you." When they had assembled at Misbah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day, they fasted, and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the Lord." Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mispa.
When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled in Mispa, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They they said to Samuel, "Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines."
Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel's behalf, and the Lord answered him. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day, the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mispa and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Bethar.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mispa and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." So the Philistines were subdued, and they stopped invading Israel's territory. Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines.
You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Verse 12 says that Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mispa and Shen and he named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." Today I just want to remind you, look what the Lord has done. Look what the Lord has done. Gabby, I recently celebrated my 54th birthday. And ever since that time, family, I need to let you know I've been in a space of reflection, contemplation, if I can be honest, just awe of how good God has really been. I've been in a season of appreciating all the amazing things God has allowed us to experience and witness as a family of faith.
The grace and the favor that God has bestowed upon this church family. the witness of being able to stop the eviction of some 350 families in public housing here in the city of Alexandria. The wonderful Resurrection Sunday worship where more than 7,500 people gathered with us to hear about the power of his resurrection. The grace of being able to baptize some 30 new believers every month. and to extend the right hand of Fellowship Terry to more than a hundred new members every single month.
I'm in awe of the goodness of God. As as Charles, I've been reflecting over some of the healthy Christian male friendships I have with brothers who I've known since college, some 30 years now, and watching how God has graced them, how they are entering 50, and how life has been good to them. I get tearful as I look at my children as they're growing into young men who started in this church in diapers and in those hard white shoes that kids used to wear that as dad she had to be careful holding them right here because that leg would swing and hit you where you don't want to be hit. And now I'm looking at them there and they are growing into holy, healthy, and happy young men. I am in awe of the grace of God to be at this big old age of life and be in good health and sound in mind and financially stable and with my eyes on retirement. And brother President, I've come to the conclusion that the one thing I know that I know that I know that I know is that there are some things in my life only God could have done.
Can I pause and ask you a question? Have you ever had a moment of reflection when you look back over your life and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt there was a moment in your life where what happened could only be the hand of a gracious God. Don't fool me now. Have Have you ever looked back and realized only the Lord could have done what happened in your life? Only the Lord could have kept that thing from taking you out. Only the Lord could have opened that door. Only the Lord could have ordered your steps to that situation. Only the Lord could have sent the right people at the right time in the right place to do the right thing in your life. Only the Lord could have kept your mind sane. Only the Lord could have watched over your children. Only the Lord could have elevated you to that place where you stand. Is there anybody here that's ever had a moment when you know that only God can get the credit for what went down in your life? That this MUST BE HAS TO be can't be anything OTHER THAN A GOD WHO IS IN HEAVEN WATCHING OVER MY LIFE. Th this this wasn't accident. This wasn't coincidence. This wasn't finance. This wasn't association. I am where I am. Cuz at some moment, God decided TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG AND TO REVEAL his grace AND HIS GLORY ON MY LIFE. AND ONLY God could have done what happened in my life. Y'all y'all forgive me, but if I ever write my autobiography, it's going to be entitled, "Look what the Lord has done." And real talk, Thelma, that that ought to be the title of this moment in the life of the children of Israel in 1st Samuel chapter 7.
Let me give you a little background before the breakdown. 1st Samuel chapter 7, the children of Israel are engaged once again in a battle with their eternal enemies, the Philistines. At this time, they are not a united nation, but they are rather a confederacy, a familial tribal units named after the sons of Jacob. They are led by the prophet Samuel. And the problem that Samuel has with them is they repeatedly consistently break the first commandment. They are always worshiping idol gods. They are guilty of idolatry. And the same cycle that's been playing itself out in the book of Judges and the book of Joshua is still going on in 1 Samuel. Here are a people that the Lord has brought out of slavery and they have the audacity and unmitigated God to continue to bow down to false gods. They're committing idolatry and I need to expand your understanding of idolatry. Idolatry is not bowing down simply in front of a little gold statue and burning your incense and your sage. That's not idolatry. Idolatry at a larger definition is when you take anything or anyone and elevate them to a place of priority that should only be reserved for the God who's been good to you. Can I say that again? Idolatry is not simply bowing down in front of a statue. Idolatry is taking something or someone and elevating them to a place of priority and privilege that ought to be reserved for the God who has been good to you.
Idolatry is when you are the spiritual advisor to the White House and you show up and have the unmitigated gull to say that this president is like Jesus Christ. That that's that's idolatry. I idolatry. Idolatry is when you excuse uh social media behavior that would have gotten your child kicked out of middle school and you excuse it at the highest level of administration in the United States government. Idolatry is when you post a a picture of yourself depicting yourself as Jesus Christ healing someone and then your followers say that was meant to be a doctor. Idolatry is when you take the former president and first lady and all their dignity and you put their heads on top of a monkey and think that it is funny and ought to be laughed at. Idolatry is when we know something's wrong with you. You are 70 plus years old. You are up at 1:15 in the morning. You are sending 50 plus tweets OUT ABOUT BARACK OBAMA. SOMETHING is wrong with you. And we have to acknowledge who you really are. IDOLATRY IS WHEN YOU LIFT SOMEONE TO A place that only God should be at.
And so they've been dealing with this idolatry. And and in chapter six, right before this, something good happens in chapter six. Javon, the ark of the covenant, which had been captured by the Philistines, is brought back to Israel. And when they bring it back, Samuel sides, we've got to deal with your sin problem. So the Bible says, Siobhan, that he gathers them together at Mispa. Let the church say mispa. If I can teach Bible for a moment, Mispa is not the name of a city. So that you can be biblically correct, you will find multiple MSPAS in the Bible because Mispa is not a city. Mispa is a location in town where people gather together. Mi mispa is like saying city hall. Every city has a city hall. Mispa is like saying let's go to the mall. Well, depending on what city you're in, you know what mall you're going to because the mall is a place of gathering. So when Samuel gathers them at Mispa, it is not a city, it is a location. Teach the Bible, Howard John.
And so they gather at Mispa. And it is there that they begin to deal with their sin problem. Bible says that when the Philistines hear that all of Israel has gathered together in Mispa, they decide it's time to attack again. They mount up their armies and they begin to mount an attack against the children of Israel while they're gathered at Mispa. And the children of Israel get afraid because they know we can't handle this. So the Bible says they tell Samuel call out to the Lord our God. Samuel calls out to God. God thunders and the Philistines are sent running away from the children of Israel. Then the Bible says when the Philistines have been dealt with that Samuel picks up a stone, he sets it down and he calls it Ebenezer. Ebenezer literally translated in Hebrew means stone of help. And when Samuel puts this stone up, this Ebenezer, he says to them, "Because thus far the Lord has helped us."
I need you to remember that monuments in Israelite time were not just statues. They were memorials. They were meant to remind those folk and the folk who came after those folk of something that happened in that place. Bible reads you you go back to Joshua chapter 4 and remember that when the children of Israel are about to cross into the promised land. They're at the river Jericho. There's no way to get through the river and the Lord makes a way in the Jericho River the same way he did at the Red Sea. And when they come out on the other side, they take 12 stones and they build a monument at Gilgal. And Joshua says, "We're going to leave this monument here. So when your children ask you, what do these stones mean? You can turn around and tell them the Lord made a way out of now way. This is a reminder that when the rivers were closed and the enemy was in front of us and there was no way to be made, we called on the Lord and the Lord heard us and the Lord helped us because every now and then you need something to remind you of how good God has been. You need someone to remind you that the Lord has made a way for you. You need someone to show up on a Sunday morning and just holler, "Eenezer, look what the Lord has done. Remember the ways God has made. REMEMBER THE BATTLES God has fought. Remember the way God has answered your prayers. REMEMBER THE WAY GOD FOUGHT YOUR BATTLES. REMEMBER THE WAY GOD PROVIDED FOR YOU. REMEMBER the way God healed you. REMEMBER HOW GOD WALKED you through that thing. Remember how God went exceeding AND ABUNDANTLY ABOVE everything you COULD ASK OR THINK. REMEMBER HOW GOD FORGAVE YOUR SINS. REMEMBER HOW GOD WORKED THAT THING TOGETHER FOR YOUR GOOD. YOU NEED SOME EBENEZER.
SO, SO YOUR pastor showed up today to holler Ebenezer. Uh, look what the Lord has done. Watch this. Look how the Lord delivered you. Watch this, saints. I don't mean to testify on your behalf, so I'm just going to tell my truth and let you say amen. That all of us have been in some things that only the Lord got you out of. Hold on. I HAVE SEEN some stuff in my life that I KNOW THAT ONLY GOD SHOWED UP AND GOT ME. I wish I HAD ABOUT THREE OTHER witnesses in here who KNOW THAT THE GOD you serve guided YOU THROUGH THAT, GOT YOU OUT OF THAT, THAT GOD SAVED AND SPARED your life. Listen, don't let this microphone, this Bible, and this suit fool you. I've been in some places a preacher ain't had no business being. I've done some things a preacher ain't had NO BUSINESS DOING. I'VE WATCHED SOME STUFF A PREACHER AIN'T GOT NO BUSINESS WATCHING. AND I'M SO GLAD THAT I SERVE A GOD WHO GOT ME OUT OF WHAT I GOT MYSELF INTO. I WISH THERE WAS A SHOUT IN HERE WHO KNOW GOD DELIVERED YOU.
Um um um um Jo Joseph. I was raised old school Baptist. I've been black and Baptist my whole life. And I remember growing up in that church on the south side of Chicago, Little Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, 10706 South Michigan on the south side of Chicago. And when you was raised at Little Progressive, there were certain phrases you heard all the time. And one of them was every Sunday somebody would get up and say, "If it had not been for the Lord on my side." And Edwin, I used to hear that every Sunday and think that that was just a lazy way of trying to manipulate me to shout and give thanks to God cuz every Sunday somebody got to say, "If it had not been for the Lord on my side, yeah, when I was six or seven, that didn't make sense to me. But at 54, can I tell you something? If it had not been for THE LORD ON MY SIDE, I don't know where I would be right now. I SHUDDER TO THINK WHERE MY LIFE WOULD HAVE LANDED. If God had not shown up and God had not OPENED A DOOR AND GOD HAD NOT BROUGHT ME OUT OF SOME STUFF, I HAD NO BUSINESS BEING IT. IS there anybody HERE THAT CAN DECLARE IF IT HAD NOT been watch Denzel? Watch what happens. Watch what happens. They're in Mispa and they get word that the Philistines are about to attack and they get scared because they know we can't handle this on our own. that this is not the United Military of Israel led by David. These are tribal units led by Samuel who now got to fight the Philistines and they know they're going to lose. They realize we can't handle this. And beloved, let me tell you, every now and then, God will put you in a place where you know you can't handle what it is you're about to go through so that you realize you need the Lord to show up in your life.
Come, come here. Come here. Come here. Come, Stephanie. Joy, let me tell you how God gets your attention. Let me tell you how the Lord brings you into relationship with him. Let me tell you how the Lord causes you to recognize you need to get your life right. That there are three ways God brought you into the kingdom. Let let me here's a survey. Uh God can sometimes get you right by blessing you. Here's how the Lord got some of us. You woke up one day and you realized you ain't had no business living the good life that you're living. And you know, it wasn't because you went to the right school. It wasn't because you graduated. Wasn't because of your 800 credit score. No, it was because there's a God who was better to you than you deserve. And in response to his blessing, you said, "Lord, what shall I render unto you for how good you've been to me?" SO, YOU GOT YOURSELF IN CHURCH TO SAY THANK YOU. YOU GAVE YOUR LIFE TO THE LORD CUZ GOD'S BEEN BETTER TO you than you deserve. YOU GOT RIGHT WITH GOD BECAUSE GOD HAD BEEN GOOD TO YOU. ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR. SO, UH, SO ONLY ABOUT SIX OF US GOT THERE THAT WAY. Uh, SO SO SINCE THE BLESSING DIDN'T GET YOU RIGHT, God will take you through the blocking. You know what the blocking is? The blocking is when something you did was about to catch up to you and you were about to reap everything you sowed. God let you get to the edge of the cliff and see what was about TO HAPPEN WITH YOUR NEXT STEP. AND SOME WAY SOMEHOW GOD GRABBED YOU AND PULLED YOU BACK AND BLOCKED WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU. AND IN RESPONSE TO THE BLOCKING, YOU RAN TO CHURCH THE NEXT SUNDAY TO SAY, "THANK YOU, LORD, FOR SAVING MY LIFE." IS THERE ANYBODY GOT HERE THROUGH THE BLOCKING? OKAY, THAT'S ABOUT HALF. HERE COME THE other half. Uh- when when you are stiff necked, when you are repeatedly disobedient, WHEN YOU'VE GONE ASTRAY MORE TIMES THAN you can remember, the blessing don't get you. The blocking don't get you. SO GOD HAS TO TAKE YOU THROUGH THE BREAKING. Uh, someone's going to be quiet cuz you want your neighbor to think you've been saved and sanctified since you were 6 days old. But some of us know we got here the hard way. UH, UH, GOD HAD TO PUT MORE ON ME THAN I COULD BEAR. I HAD TO LOSE SOME STUFF. I HAD TO HIT ROCK BOTTOM. I HAD TO WALK AWAY FROM THINGS. AND IN THAT MOMENT, I CALLED OUT TO GOD AND SAID, "GOD, I NEED YOU TO HELP ME BEAR THIS WEIGHT. IS THERE ANYBODY THAT GOT HERE THROUGH THE BREAKING? I can't handle this.
So So watch it. I got to go slow here because someone is going to miss an easy amen. I'm go slow. So when they realized they couldn't handle it, in verse number nine, they said, "Call out to the Lord for us." Siobhan, watch it. Someone's going to miss it. So Samuel called out to the Lord in verse number nine. And in verse number nine, it says, "And the Lord answered him. This ain't for everybody, but I'm looking for the folk that know you called on God and the Lord answered. It didn't take 10 years. It didn't take 3 months. It didn't take a whole week. Is there anybody here that's ever had the experience OF GOD ANSWERING YOUR PRAYER THE MINUTE YOU PRAYED IT? HE ANSWERED. HE SHOWED UP. HE MADE A WAY. HE FOUGHT THE BATTLE. HE BROUGHT YOU OUT. THANK God that he still answers prayer.
Now, I know why a couple of you didn't stand up. I love you, Lord. So, let me preach to the rest of y'all who who've never been there. Watch how God answered. Sister Boen, this is good. This is good. Uh the Lord answered by thundering. Now, I'm going tell you, if you do your research, scholars have no idea what the thunder was. Like, what could God have done that caused an army of Philistines to stop attacking? We don't know. All we know is that they called on the Lord and the attack stopped. They called on the Lord and the devastation didn't come. No, no, no. Here, I'm coming to somebody. That's a word because someone here today, you've prayed and you didn't hear the answer you wanted to hear. You prayed and mama still died. You prayed and you didn't get the job. You prayed and the relationship still ended. So you sitting in church today with your arms crossed and your legs folded because you feel like you prayed and God didn't answer your prayer. You didn't hear the right answer. The answer is that God stopped the attack that was going to happen to you. And the reason I know God answered your prayer while you sitting in church with your arms crossed and your legs folded is because you're sitting in church with your arms crossed and your legs folded. Which means what should have happened didn't happen to you. AND GOD ANSWERS YOUR PRAYER BY sparing your life. I need about six folk who can just thank GOD THAT IT DIDN'T GO DOWN THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE GONE DOWN. That you didn't lose your right mind. YOU DIDN'T LOSE EVERYTHING. YOU DIDN'T LAY DOWN AND DIE. GOD SPARES YOUR LIFE AND GOD ANSWERS YOUR PRAYER.
Here it is. I got to move. Um um they prayed, God answered with thunder, BUT VERSE 10 TELLS US WHAT THE THUNDER WAS. I'm coming for SOMEBODY HERE. HERE HERE'S THE THUNDER. You ready? You ready? Um the Philistines were coming and attacking. And verse 10 says, "But that day the Lord answered uh uh UH THE THE ATTACK WAS COMING, but God." Here's the answer to your prayer. IT IS THE TWO MOST POWERFUL words any child of faith CAN EVER DECLARE in the MIDST OF THEIR STRUGGLE. BUT GOD, YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I'M STILL LIVING? But God, YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I'M STILL IN THIS PULL PIT? But God, YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I'M STILL IN MY RIGHT MIND? But God, IS THERE ANYBODY HERE THAT CAN JUST holler those two words? But God. But God showed up. BUT GOD MADE A WAY. But God protected me. But God delivered me. But God held me. But God stayed with me. But God um um um um um um the Lord had delivers us. And only the Lord could have done that.
Let me let me hustle on out of here. UH AND WATCH HOW THE Lord has helped us. There's some things only the Lord could have done and one of them was help you. That that word help Isaiah in in Hebrew it's kind of hard to translate. So give me a moment to help you understand what it means for the Lord to help you. Um, I I learned Darl what what it is to be helped when I was in the gym the other day cuz birthday break is over and uh I got some birthday weight that that me and the Lord are working on. So, I'm in the gym and sisters, never underestimate the self-destructive power of the male ego. Say it again. Never underestimate the selfdestructive power of the male ego. Joanna, I ain't been in the gym in six weeks. When's the last time you've been in the gym? Talking about some moves. I'm in the gym six weeks and uh my male ego goes in and and tells me that I can lift the same weight now that I did six weeks ago. So I get on the squats and put about four plates on there. I ain't got no business trying to lift that much weight, but never underestimate the self-destructive power of the male ego. I get on the squats, got four plates on each side, and I go down. Uh uh the problem is I I I can't get back up. And all of a sudden, my trainer who's training someone else sees me struggling with the weight. She comes up behind me and she puts her hands on the weight and she starts to push. She starts to help me with a weight I can't bear myself by standing behind me and pushing it up to help me. Now, now hold on. SHE DIDN'T TAKE IT FROM ME. She just helped me lift it a little bit. BECAUSE WHAT GOD DOESN'T DELIVER YOU FROM, GOD WILL HELP YOU WITH. HEY, THAT'S SOME GOOD NEWS RIGHT THERE. HE AIN'T GOT TO TAKE IT. GOD JUST HELP me with it. Help me with THESE CHILDREN. HELP ME WITH THIS MARRIAGE. HELP ME WITH THESE CO-WORKERS. HELP ME WITH MY FINANCES. GOD IS A HELPER. Tell somebody tell them he helped me.
Watch watch it. I GOT TO GO. I GOT TO GO. UH he he helped me. That's Ebenezer. BUT WATCH WHAT SAMUEL REALLY SAYS. HE SAYS, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." Y that word thus far in G Hebrew is this phrase adhena and it's kind of hard to translate. The New International says thus far. The King James says hitherto. The English Standard Version says till now. The one I like most Marcia is the common English Bible. Watch what it says. I want make sure you catch this. Samuel says up till this point the Lord has helped us. That's right. I used to be slow. Up to this point, the Lord has helped us. Which means, Gabby, he's letting them know we need God's help right now. But I want y'all to remember that THIS AIN'T THE FIRST time we've needed God to do something. Up until this point, THE LORD HAS BEEN HELPING US EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. AND SO, WHEN I CAME TO PREACH TO YOU TODAY, LET YOU KNOW THAT WHATEVER YOU'RE FACING, THIS AIN'T THE FIRST TIME YOU NEED IT, GOD. THIS AIN'T THE FIRST MIRACLE YOU NEEDED. THIS AIN'T THE FIRST OPEN DOOR YOU NEEDED. THIS AIN'T THE FIRST BATTLE GOD'S GOT TO FIGHT FOR YOU. WHEN YOU LOOK BACK OVER YOUR LIFE, YOU CAN SEE GOD HAS BEEN THERE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, EVERY MILE OF YOUR JOURNEY, EVERY BATTLE IN YOUR LIFE. AND IF GOD DID IT BACK THEN, I WISH I HAD SOMEONE WHO TRUSTED TO SAY, "IF GOD BROUGHT ME THROUGH THAT, THEN GOD CAN BRING ME THROUGH THIS. If God HANDLED THAT, THEN GOD CAN HANDLE THIS." THE SAME GOD WHO BROUGHT US THROUGH JIM CROW. THE SAME GOD WHO MADE US SURVIVE THE MIDDLE PASSAGE. THE SAME GOD WHO LET US FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS. IS THE SAME GOD. GO. I got to go. We got to go. I got to go. If he did it, then he can DO IT AGAIN. SO, WHY ARE YOU DISCOURAGED? WHY ARE YOU FEARFUL? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FROM IT? GOD'S DONE IT BEFORE AND he'll do it again.
I got I'm sorry. I I've kept y'all past Sunday school, but can I give you one last thing? Uh uh this this is for the Bible students because it kind of bothered me. Uh Samuel calls it Ebenezer in chapter 7. Now y'all here here's the problem. Stay with me. Don't sit. Here it is. Here's the problem. Um, in 1st Samuel 4 when the Philistines beat them, the Bible says they beat them at Ebenezer. In 1st Samuel 5 when they took the ark, they took it from Ebenezer to Ash. Don't Don't Mr. Earl Brown, you like Bible. So, so the they they recognize it as Ebenezer in chapter FOUR AND VER CHAPTER 5 WHERE THEY LOST THE BATTLE, BUT SAMUEL doesn't name it Ebenezer to chapter 7. HERE, HERE'S THE QUESTION. HOW CAN YOU CALL IT WHAT IT ain't been named yet? They called it Ebenezer, but it hadn't been named Ebenezer TILL CHAPTER 7. MAKE SURE YOU CATCH THIS. UH, IT DIDN'T CALL EBENEZER TO CHAPTER 7, BUT IN CHAPTER FOUR, IT'S EBENEZER. IN CHAPTER FIVE, IT'S EBENEZER WHERE THEY LOST TO THE PHILISTINES. HERE'S THE ANSWER. BECAUSE SOMEWHERE IN JEWISH HISTORY, THE WRITER WENT BACK TO WHERE THEY LOST THE BATTLE AND SAW WHAT GOD HAD DONE IN THE FUTURE AND WROTE THE WORD EBENEZER. BECAUSE WHERE THEY EXPERIENCE THEIR GREATEST STRUGGLE IS ALSO WHERE GOD GAVE THEM THEIR GREATEST SUCCESS. THAT WHEREVER THE BATTLE IS GOING DOWN IS WHERE GOD'S GOING TO SHOW UP. AND I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU TO JUST HOLLER EBENEZER. IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR SICKNESS, IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR BATTLE, IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR PAIN, EBENEZER, cuz wherever you have your greatest struggle is where God's going to show his greatest strength. and you'll be able to look back over your life and call that moment Eenezer. Look what the Lord has done. There are some things only God has done in your life. And to God be the glory for what the Lord has done.
Won't you stand if you're able? God. God, in this moment of reflection, we remember all the times and ways you delivered us, all the times and ways you helped us. So God, now I pray that whatever battle is before us, Ebenezer. Whatever this week is going to bring, Ebenezer. Whatever I've got to face, whoever I've got to stand before, whatever report I've got to hear, Ebenezer, the Lord will deliver me. And if he doesn't deliver me, he's going to help me. So be strong, my sister. Stand firm, my brother. The place of your struggle is the place of your greatest success. Thus far, the Lord has helped us.