Humble Yourself Through Obedience
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Lisa Ang, assistant director of the CBC English Prayer Ministry, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
Watch full sermon here
Glenn Duncan stated that days are coming that we will not recognize the worship in this place. God is on the move. He opened the sermon by reminding us of what has been happening around our nation. The time for bringing the message is over and the time to BE the message is here. When God comes in and shows up, He takes precedence. There is nothing on this earth that is like His presence in our lives.
This season is the darkest time in our nation as far as Glenn has ever experienced in his life. There are new crises coming on a daily basis. Evil has been around for a long time and yet there has been no time like this time where our nation is at its darkest.
Daniel 11:32b NKJV “. . . but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”
We are to be Daniel 11:32b people. We have been born for such a time like this. No matter how much darkness we see, God will always win. God has a plan for this nation and all the nations because they all belong to Him. He has a plan and He has a purpose. This is our finest hour. If we will humble ourselves and seek Him as 2 Chronicles 7:14 says. Fear not, God has a plan and He is going to show His glory through us.
2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV “If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Glenn shared how it grieves him to know that 70-88% of high school seniors who grew up in Christian homes turned away from Christ before they even finish their freshman year in college. It is so because they never tasted and seen that the Lord is good. It gives him hope whenever he sees young people on fire for God and bringing God outside the church into their colleges. That is when we see God’s glory shown.
Matthew 5:16 NKJV “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
The older generations were reminded to not to slow down and just sit back to watch the younger generation move. This move of God needs ALL of us—the young and the old. We have yet to see what God is about to do. If the enemy can show up and show evil as they do, how much more will God show His glory through us?
1 Corinthians 2:9-10b NKJV “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined, the things that God has prepared for those who love him. God has revealed those things to us by His Spirit.”
Something big is happening in the spirit-realm and God is awakening His church. For some of us, our lives have been stirred up and/or turned upside-down. God is taking away things in our lives that are not of Him. It is Galatians 2:20 time.
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
It is not pretty, sometimes we wonder if we are ever going to get through the shaking. It is a process. This is a great time to get low and be obedient. We have nothing to add to God’s plan. We simply need to be obedient. Our ways are not His ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts. Our plans are not better than God’s plan. If we get low and obedient, we will see Ephesians 3:20 come to fruition. God will do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think. It is the consequences of the action of His power that works within us. That is the power of the Holy Spirit that works inside of us. God does it best.
Ephesian 3:20 AMP “Now unto Him as a consequence of the action of His power that works within us. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond that which you can think, ask, dream, or imagine according to the power that works in us.”
God is going to show up and show off His glory. God spoke to one of the prophets that, “If I can find a people without mixture, I will pour out My power without measure.” We do not need to whip anything up, we simply need to humble ourselves and trust God. We need to see the power of God operating in our lives. Glenn continues with an example from Betty Baxter. She had to deal with many infirmities as a child and God said she would be healed on a certain date and time. She had a praying mom. God showed up and healed her completely in front of her family members. Take the time to listen to her powerful testimony. *The link to Betty Baxter’s testimony is provided at the end of this summary.
God is in the business of healing. We will see just that and more. The key is for us to get the pride, arrogance, and insecurity out of us. It is a process. We need to get the "gunk" off our hearts, working out our salvation. God is ruthlessly committed to us to become Christ-like because God is excited to see what happens in our lives as we get closer to become more like Christ.
Isaiah 57:15 NIV “For this is what the high and exalted One says—He who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”
God is the Holy One, but He also dwells with those with a contrite heart and humble spirit. God becomes our friend when we have a contrite and humble spirit. The word “contrite” is defined as humbled by your own sins and failures, seeking after God, expressing sincere remorse, and repenting of your sins and shortcomings. In other words, you are really sorry for what you have done. You are not sorry because you got caught, but because you really have an anguish in your heart over things. When you pray with an anguish in your heart for anything, it is a different level of prayer. That is what God wants us to do with our sin; to pray and confess it with anguish in our hearts. His Word is the discerner of the intents of our hearts and thoughts. He knows it.
In this time and season, we need to pray for God to share His heart with us. Glenn gave us an example of what happened with Dutch Sheets. God poured out His heart for America to Dutch. God shared to Dutch that America is part of His plan and he thought that God was going to share about His wrath for America, yet it was the opposite. God shared His heart to Dutch on how much He loves America, so much so that Dutch felt such anguish for America because he received a glimpse of the heart of God.
We need to be praying for God’s heart upon our circumstances. We need to ask God for His heart for whatever it is that God puts in our hearts, whether it is in education, helping people, or other things. We do not want to be moved just by our emotions; we need to be moved because we have what is in the Father’s heart. We need to have the Father’s heart. It does not come naturally; we need to ask for it by spending time in His presence. If we take out the "gunk" from our hearts, there is more space to put in the good things.
Isaiah 57:15 says God revives the spirit of the humble. Revival is not about the fanfare and the big tent meetings. It is about humility. When God talks about healing the land, it begins with humbling ourselves. If we do not humble ourselves, then we might be thinking it is because of us that heals the land. We might be thinking that the land is healed because it is us who prayed. The Bible states that God resists the proud. The proud He knows only from afar.
We need God to be humble. Being humble is not something we can do out of our own strength. We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives. Some of the characteristics of being humble is being teachable, that no job is too small, live to help others to succeed, not be easily offended, being thankful, be quick to forgive, and not hold grudges. All of that are vital and important, but there are a few that are the core of being humble as listed below.
Being Humble or Humility is Characterized As:
The sense of entire nothing-ness which comes when we see God is truly all and in which we make a way for God to be all.
It is not us beating ourselves that we are nothing. It is not negative self-talk. Eighty percent of our self-talk is negative. It is an awe of God, it is ‘God, relative to You, I am nothing.” It is “God, You are the One who parts the sea, hung the stars, opens blind eyes.” It is that kind of nothing-ness.
2. The place of entire dependence on God. Absolute surrender.
Humility does not work unless we give God all of us. Absolute surrender does not come overnight. It only happens when we have quality quiet/loud crying time with the Lord. Absolute surrender does not come from our own strength. The plan that God has for each of us blows away anything that we planned for ourselves.
Glenn gave an example of his own experience in July 2, 2007 when God spoke to him about absolute surrender. Glenn thought these words are relevant to explain the meaning of absolute surrender. God said, “Stand to your feet. I want to speak to you. I want your soul. I want it whole. Drop your other lovers. I want all of you, your thoughts, your time, your money, and your words. I am a jealous God. I brought you here to speak to you. I want ALL of you. I cannot be manipulated or controlled. I want your attention, rend your heart. Eyes have not seen the things I have for you.”
What kind of "lovers" do you have in your life that takes you away from spending time with God? Is it your hobby? Your work? Your pride? Has it taken away your time from spending quiet time with the Lord? Drop your other lovers. Where your spirit-man wants to go, there is no space or room for your other lovers. What you got away with in the past will not cut it anymore. We do not know what we do not know until God shows us. Unless we spend time with the Lord, we will not know what He has for us. We can never get the time we spent on other things back, but we can turn from our old ways, humble ourselves, and seek Him.
Psalm 119:37 NKJV “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in Your word.”
3. Self-Distrust
There is only death in the flesh, but there is life in the Spirit. Be honest to yourself, how many times do you trust your own opinion? One of the characteristics of humility is self-distrust; not trusting yourself or believing in your own opinion, but trusting in God.
Proverbs 3:5-8 NKJV “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.”
Humility is marked by meekness or modesty, not arrogance. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is power under perfect control. When you are walking in meekness, you are more powerful than a strong soldier who takes the whole city. One of the ingredients of being meek is being slow to anger. When someone is meek, he/she will not be easily moved or annoyed when someone criticizes them. An example of a meek man is William Seymour who God used through the Azusa Street Revival and an estimated 600 million people were brought to Christ from around the world. God will not trust a man or a woman who is not humble before Him.
Humility is the foundation. Without humility, we will not have obedience. With humility and obedience, we say, “God, I submit to Your plan, not mine.” Let us do something that we have never done before. Let us spend quality time with Jesus and read the scriptures about humility. Many say that they are waiting on God’s plans, yet they have done many things using their own strength. God wants our humility. He has many plans for us, but He is waiting for us to humble ourselves before Him.
Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Philippians 2:13 AMP “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.”
Humility is a process that requires God’s help. The life of a Christian is not struggling, but yielding. It is not effort, but union with the Holy Spirit; not by might, not by sight, but by His Spirit.
*Link to Betty Baxter’s Testimony: https://youtu.be/pFCayeWdyKk
Prayer Points:
Pray for Holy Spirit to reveal the true meaning of humility.
Is there anything in your life that takes your attention away from God? Ask God to help you shift your focus back to Him. Pray for Holy Spirit to help you come to a place of absolute surrender.
Do you value your opinion more that God’s opinion? Pray for Holy Spirit’s help so you can trust God’s plans more that you trust your own plans.
Have you been walking in meekness? Or does your pride get in the mix, in the way? Pray for Holy Spirit to show you how to be meek; powerful, yet controlled.
Pray the following scriptures:
- Psalms 139:23-24 NIV “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”- Hebrews 13:21 AMP “Strengthen (complete, perfect) and make you what you ought to be and equip you with everything good that you may carry out His will; [while He Himself] works in you and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ (the Messiah); to Whom be the glory forever and ever (to the ages of the ages). Amen (so be it).”