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But most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Welcome to If Not Forgot. Stories of hopelessness that turn to hope. Here is your host, Mike Zwick.
Hey guys, this is Mike Zwick from If Not For God with Mike Zwick, and I've got my good friend Jeff Hoover right here with me in the studio. And today, we are actually going to be talking about. Thinking big because we serve a big God, and I think sometimes our goals are a little bit too small, we think a little bit too small. And in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, it actually talks about now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And then in verse 6 of chapter 11 of Hebrews, it says that without faith, it is impossible to please God because whoever comes to him must come to him with faith.
Do you have faith to think big, to believe big? I'm going to give you a couple of Bible verses right here. I've got Jeremiah 29:11, and it says, For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Here's another one: Ephesians 3:20. A lot of people know this.
Now, to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power. At work within us, the Holy Spirit is living inside of you if you are a Christian, and the Holy Spirit wants to use you, and the Holy Spirit is working through you right now as you're listening to my voice because God wants to do something big in you. And I think we're good, Christian. But you know, Jeff, I was thinking about this before I started, and I'll see that again too. But one of the things that I was thinking about is that I was praying for the state of North Carolina.
I kept praying. We were praying for Alamance County. And it was like all of a sudden, after years and years of praying for Alamance County, all of a sudden, the Lord spoke to me and he said, Mike, you need to think bigger. And then I started to pray for the state of North Carolina. After that, I started to pray for revival in the country of the USA.
After that, we start to pray for revival to go all over the earth. And you see, with God, nothing is impossible. And Jeff, you've had to learn to think big as well. Is that right? Yes, I mean the thing is that like you were saying before about check is when you were in check the thing is that that God showed me that You know, when I went to Czech, God wanted me to or he wanted to show me the strong man that was over check and how there was a connection with that strong man to also be Uh to give um To give us ideas or to the strongman for breakthrough in Winston-Salem.
that because there was a connection In the spirit. And I want to make sure that people understand what we're talking about because I know you got to pull that up on your phone. But what we're talking about here is the Moravians actually came to Winston-Salem. And if you look up the Moravian culture and the Moravian religion and all of that, one of the things that you can see is that the Moravians started off, I believe, you know, John Hus kind of started that movement, really. And if you don't know who John Hus is, John Hus was actually burned at the stake in 1415, but he lived in the Czech Republic or in the Prague area, but at that time it was actually called Bohemia.
Is that right, Jeff? Yes, but John Hus actually lived in an area of Czech called Moravia.
Okay. And that area Uh that's where the connection comes with uh the Moravians. And what and how things got connected. In Western Salem.
Well, and one of the things that I was thinking about, Jeff, is that when we are going to tear down strongholds, the Bible is very clear. You can't believe the Bible and say, I only believe in certain things in the Bible and not believe in other things as well. You know, when I look at the Bible right here, it says in Ephesians 6, chapter 6, verse 12, it says, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. And one of the times you and I, Jeff, were actually talking about this. And what you said is you said, Mike, yes, we're against abortion.
We are fighting against that spirit of abortion, but we're not fighting against people. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but our wrestle, we wrestle against principalities, against rulers of the dark places. And Jeff, I think when When I figured that out, and when I really realized that and I took that to heart, I realized: okay, I'm not fighting against the Democrats. I'm not fighting against Nancy Pelosi. I'm not fighting against Barack Obama or whoever it is, or if you're on the other side, I'm not fighting against Donald Trump, whatever it is.
It is a spiritual battle, and when we see things through spiritual eyes, it changes everything. And in the Old Testament, Jeff, there was actually a passage, and you probably remember this, where there is a king who is fighting a battle, and he's looking at it in the natural, and he says that there is no way that he can win this battle. Do you remember what happened? Oh, yeah. What happened?
Well, I mean, there's two times. One is where he looked out and his servant saw that Uh they were so surrounded with all these uh soldiers and uh he just was very discouraged and then Then he said to his servant or to God, he said, open his eyes so he can see. That's right. And so God opened his eyes and he could see all the angel armies that were around them. And they were massive.
And so then he saw that they had an advantage. And all by seeing in the spirit. When we fight in the spirit, we have God on our side, and we know. Then, that we have the victory already. Jesus has won the battle.
Now, that doesn't mean we don't have to fight. We have to fight. You know, when you mention abortion, well, you know, it's Molech. Molech was a spirit that people worshiped in the past, and the way they worshipped it was the same way that we call abortion now. And so the thing is, that is what, when we realize that we're fighting against Molech and not against the flesh and blood that we see that is being influenced by Molech, then if we take Molech out, Which we can do, then these people then will no longer be um.
Influenced by Molech. And so that's where we need to fight. And God knows that. And God, that's why God told us that you fight against flesh, you don't fight against flesh and blood, but you fight against principalities and powers and rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness and high places.
So as we do that, we see. Yeah. The Bible says that the God of this world has blinded people's eyes so they can't see the truth. But when we pray, we can take those blinders off of their eyes so that they can see the truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus and have an opportunity to come to know Jesus as their Lord. And that's what it's all about.
That's what it's all about. And you know what's funny, Jeff? I wish that when I was younger, I would have understood a lot of this. Because when I was younger, I used to take the attitude of, if it's going to be, It's up to me. In other words, I've got to go out and I've and by the way, you need to do this.
You go out, you share the gospel, you hand out tracts, you talk to people, you do everything that you can in your power to get the good news of Jesus Christ out there. The part that I didn't understand was when, if it's going to be, it's up to me, was the power of prayer. And what I've seen, Jeff, with so many of these revivals that I've been studying, and I studied the studied the revival with, and so many people know about Jonathan Edwards up in, it was in Massachusetts, where he got up to speak. And when he was preaching and he was talking to the people, the people became so convicted of their sins. They became so convicted of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ that what ended up happening was, they were holding on to their pews.
They were literally holding on to their pews because they were afraid that they were going to slip into hell. And here's the thing, Jeff. This is what a lot of people. Don't realize okay. What they don't realize is that before this whole thing happened, there were people who were fasting and praying and praying and praying.
Because if you look at it in the natural, they said the way that Jonathan Edwards spoke, it was almost like he would read off of something, some sheet of paper. He wasn't charismatic, he wasn't exciting, but it was the power of the Holy Spirit. But it started with prayer. Are you wanting something in your life right now? Are you praying for something?
Are you believing for something? You've got to pray and you've got to believe. But I think a lot of times we just want things to happen and we just expect, you know, God to just snap his fingers. And Jeff, I think a lot of times what happens is this. A lot of times we're waiting on God, but God may be waiting on us.
It says in the Word of God, 2 Chronicles 7:14, if my, and you can pull that up right there on the phone, but it says, if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, but it also says this: if they turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land. We are seeing really somewhat of a revival that has been starting in America. I'm seeing people stay. Stadiums of people just filling up, people praising God, people thanking God. And yes, there's some bad stuff going on in the world right now, too, Jeff.
But the problem is this: I don't think if people are just focused on all the bad that is happening in the world, they're not going to see the good stuff that God is doing.
Well, also. I think it's I think it's Psalm Psalm 102, I think. But anyway, There is a Psalm that says that God says to us He says, Ask of me And I will give you the heathen or the nations for an inheritance for you. Mm-hmm.
So the thing is, we have to ask God for those nations of people. Remember what else that says? It says, He stores the wealth of the unrighteous is stored up for the righteous. Yeah. And so the thing is, so we're talking about asking for big things.
So when you come in, you want to ask. For nations, you want to ask, you know, and fight. You want to. You want to take down The blinders off people's eyes for nations. I mean, it says, Can a nation be changed in a day?
Well, with us, no, a nation can't be changed. With man's power, a nation cannot be changed in a day.
However, with the power of God, we can see, and I've even seen nations change. In a day. I've seen the Czech Republic changed between from Czechoslovakia to Czech and Slovakia in one day. It just happened that they went in and that there was no war. God moved and God was moving through that area.
And the thing is, that's what that's the kind of thing that God can do spiritually. God can touch people mightily in a great way when we reach out in the spirit and with God we become a force that can open up nations and stuff. And as we believe big, because we have a big God. I remember when I went to the Middle East and I went to people, I had pastors sometimes tell me, you can't do Anything there. You can't do anything in Austria because it's too hard.
They've already had the gospel. I said, well, God is bigger than that. There's nothing too hard for God. And when I went to the Middle East, I told God, I said, you know, it's not because I'm something special, but if I'm going to spend 40 years in the Middle East, That I expect to have more than two or three converts. I expect to see a great move of God in the Middle East because of God.
He is bigger than that.
Well, and the Bible actually says it says, You have not because you ask not. And you receive not because you ask amiss. You're asking, Hey, I want to get rich so I can spend it on myself. I can do all these things for myself. But see, God is a big God, but God also searches our hearts and He searches our motives.
One of the things that the Lord woke me up this morning with was that we need to spend time in praise. You know, it says in His Word in Psalm chapter 150, it talks about how we need to give honor and how we need to give praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. We fail to give him the praise that he deserves. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Here it is: Psalm 150.
Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery and the harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance. Praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals.
Praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals. Let everything, everything that has breath, praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. You know what? If you're having a tough time, praise the Lord.
If you're dealing with depression, praise the Lord. The other thing that I've seen, Jeff, is that so many times when we're depressed, when we're not feeling good ourselves, it's because we're saying, I, I'm depressed. I'm not feeling good. I'm not feeling right. And see, what happens is, and psychologists have actually looked at this and agree with this, is that when people are depressed, when they're down, a lot of times it's because they're very selfish and they're only thinking about themselves.
But see, some of the happiest people that I've ever known are people who look at others, people who want to help others. You know, William Booth, the guy who started the Salvation Army, one time they were going to send out a telegram and they were going to say, hey, we need to do this thing and we're trying to get people involved in the ministry and this, that, the other. And they wrote out a paragraph and they said, you can't afford that. Wrote out a few sentences. They said, you can't afford that.
Wrote out a sentence. They couldn't afford it. They said, you got room for one word. That's all you got enough money for is one word. You know what that word was, Jeff?
It was others. Others, when we put others ahead of ourselves, we're happy ourselves. You see, the truth is, is that for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus put it this way in Matthew chapter 7. He says, Above all else, he said, Do one unto others as you shall have them do unto you.
For this sums up the law and the prophets. There's so many people out there scamming people. I get, you know, since we've been here, I've seen some people calling you, Jeff, and a lot of it is probably scams. Instead of scamming people, why not help people? Why not give them the good news of Jesus Christ?
But I tell you what, if you want to see results, you better start praying. There was a guy named Evan Roberts. Have you heard of him, Jeff? He was over in Wales, the 1904, 1905 revival over there. And from the time that he was a little kid, he would pray and he would pray and he would pray and he would pray.
And what people see is they see what happened during that short, short-term revival from 1904 to 1905. The Lord told him that he was going to give him 100,000 souls. And the Lord did give him 100,000 souls. It was amazing. But see, what people don't see is that for years and for years and for years before that, young Evan Roberts was in his room at night.
In the middle of the night, he would wake up and pray. Lord, give me souls. Lord, pray for the salvation of this nation. And so what ended up happening was. The Lord gave it to them.
The Lord gave it to them. You know, the people who used to, they would have their, they would be, they would hit their, they would hit their mules or whatever. And the only way the mules would go is if they would curse at the mules. And so when they got saved, they would no longer curse.
So the mules wouldn't go anymore and they'd have to try to find something else. But see, the problem is, is sometimes we work so hard for the revival. We work so hard to see those people saved that sometimes when we see it happen, we sit on our laurels and we say, okay, we're good, we're good, we can sit back and we can lay back now. Evan Roberts is a great case. It's a great thing to see what God did through him and through that nation.
The problem is, is that in 1905, he became weary, he became tired, and after that, he never really did anything great again for the Lord.
So the truth is, not only do we have to be good at starting, Jeff, but we also have to have persistence, resiliency, and we have to realize that we're in it for the long haul. Yeah, and you just and a friend wrote me an email just recently and said that uh told me that many people uh in a church in Syria, including a pastor, were just martyred. Then they were just killed for their faith, for being Christians, in Syria just recently. And he said, But uh that they were Praying that this would be the start. Of a mighty revival in Syria.
And the thing is that. We need to realize, as we said before, that we don't fight against flesh and blood. That these people who killed these people. were influenced by A spirit by Satan in some way. And these people need Jesus as well.
And so that if we want to see Martin Luther King Jr. actually said something. He said, Never let yourself get so low as to hate a man.
So, in other words, yeah, we see what they're doing and we hate their actions. And they are responsible. You know, it's not like the devil made them do it or anything like that. He may have influenced them, but they are responsible for their actions. But the Lord also tells us to forgive those people as well.
Go ahead. Right. And they just, and once they receive forgiveness, I mean, Paul also, when he was Saul, When he went to Damascus, he was killing Christians because he thought that was what God wanted him to do. And that's what these Muslims think. That they are doing God's will.
They really do think that they're doing God's will.
So, the thing is that they are deceived and they need to know the truth. But The way that they can know the truth and the way that deception can be taken off their lives is through our prayers, our forgiveness, the same way that Stephen. Uh forgave Saul. When he was stoned to death. That's what we need to be able to forgive them so that there can be a revival that goes forth and call that revival forth in all of Syria, in all of, you mentioned about the Czech Republic.
Also, you mentioned the Sudan. You know, we want to see different peoples, different countries. We have to believe and believe God and ask God for these revivals for these people to. To come to know the Lord. And God will show us the strongholds that are blinding these people's eyes so that we can tear them down because God has given us.
The authority to be able to go out in His authority and pull these things down so that the gospel can go forth in a mighty way. And these people will have the opportunity.
Now I'm not saying maybe they still won't come to know the Lord, but our job is not to win anybody to the Lord. Our job is to make sure that everyone Here's the gospel, that they have an opportunity. to hear the truth. And to come to know the Lord. Absolutely.
And it starts with prayer. It starts with prayer. I think sometimes we work, we work, we work, and we feel like we're banging our head against the wall. And then I think at the end of the day, what we end up doing is we end up going to God in prayer after we've tried it on our own. But see.
We do it the opposite way that it should be. The way that it should be is we should start In prayer, we should start in prayer. Say, God, I need your help. Lord, I can't do this on my own. Jeff, he can't do this on our own.
We can't do it on our own, Lord. We need you, Lord. And it says in the Word of God, it says, unless the Lord builds the house, it says that the laborers labor in vain. The name of my show is called If Not for God. And I was in the church in the Lamb's Chapel many years ago.
And I said, Lord, what do you want me to name this show? And I opened up the book, and it was the book of Psalms. It might have been Psalm 127, I forget. But it said, If it had not been for the Lord, if it had not been for the Lord, if it had not been for the Lord. You see, when we try to take the glory, Jeff, when we try to take the glory for ourselves, when we pray for somebody and we see Jesus heal them and we say, I heal them.
Look what I did. Look what I did. And people do that in business. They do that all different ways.
Okay. But when they do that, they're taking the glory away from the Lord. And see, the truth is, is that if it is not for God, if not for God, We can't do anything at all. God woke you up this morning. God gave you food on your table.
God did this. God did all these things for you. You say, well, I worked hard for that. You probably did. I mean, you probably worked hard.
And it says in 2 Thessalonians 3.10, it says, but those who do not work, neither shall they eat.
So there is our part. We're supposed to work six days a week and take off one. I get that. But at the same time, what if you were born in a country like, let's say, Libya or Nigeria or wherever it is? You can work as hard as you want.
You're still not going to have anything because all the people at the top have the money and you don't have the opportunity. Do you thank God for the opportunity? And then in addition to that, how many people are you praying for that are not saved? Jeff, we started off the show talking about thinking big. I want you to think big right now if you're listening right now.
Who is that person you've been praying for all of these years? You know, the Bible says that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Are you just kind of praying haphazard? Are you serious about your relationship with the Lord? And I'm going to ask you something right now.
If you've never given your life to Jesus today, I want you, if you're watching right now or listening right now, I want to ask you right now. Pray with me this prayer, dear Lord Jesus. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins, Lord. I turn away from my sins. I surrender my life to you.
Thank you for saving me in Jesus' name. You see, if you've prayed that prayer, you can send me a message on Facebook. You can call us up at the Truth Network. We're out of Winston-Salem. We would love to hear from you.
And, Jeff, I also want to thank you for coming on the show today as well. It's not for God. All right, for my YouTube channel. If not for God with mighty wick. Just like, subscribe, and hit that notification bell.
So, you'll be alerted when we have our next video. This is the Truth Network. Mm-hmm.
