Thank you very much. I don't need introduction; all I need is, I'm a village preacher, and I just want to correct: our organization is not international, it is Indian. We are very much Indian, we are in the villages of India, and I'm a village preacher, you know? So, these are rare opportunities I get when I come to intellectual and intelligent people and share with them. I love to be in the villages of India. You ask me what is the most beautiful thing, or what I really cherish, is being with the people who have never heard about Jesus Christ, go and sit with them and talk with them, and lead them to Christ, and then worship Jesus with them. There's no greater joy than that.

Maybe about 20 years ago, what really touched me and why this keeps me going, the energy that I get when I go to villages is, and why I'm always running and passionate about villages of India, about 22 to 23 years back, I was going to a village in Madhya Pradesh, in my own state, and I was walking with one of my fellow pastors. And we were entering a village, and as we were entering, there were few people sitting, elderly people were sitting under a tree, and they were playing cards. So, I thought this is the best way to interact with them, just sit with them, talk with them, and then enter the village.

And so, I sat with them, and I started talking. I asked them about their crops, I asked them about their family life, so I just started becoming friendly with them. They were playing cards, but they kept talking, because in North India, they really respect a stranger who comes to your village. And I was sitting with them, and finally, maybe after 15, 20 good minutes of talking with them, I asked them, "Do you know Jesus Christ?" I asked them. And they all looked at each other, and they looked at me, and with great respect, they said, "Sir, we don't have anybody called Jesus living in our town."

My heart cried. My heart cried. 2,000 years since Jesus came to this world. 2,000 years since St. Thomas first stepped into our nation, and people haven't heard about Jesus Christ. What a sad story. If I will not go, who will go? If we will not go, who will go? We can't leave it for somebody else. No. God asked Isaiah, "Whom shall I send?" And the same question was asked to me. And I said, "God, till I have my last breath, I will run to the villages, and I'll go and tell them there is a God who has the answers to all your problems. We've got to pray for our nation. The Bible says like this, I think it's in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people", it's not about the government, it's not about the scientists, it's not about those who run the nation. If our nation has to be saved, if our nation has to find that real peace and joy, it is "my people who are called by my name", if they will humble themselves and if they will cry to me with repentance, I will heal the nation.

Today, you take the newspaper, you read the news, the front page and the headlines, it's all about things that have been messed up. About wars, about economical crisis, about famine, you name it. Nations standing against nations, people standing against people. All things are happening that are disturbing our soul, and that are disturbing our lifestyle. But who is the answer? It is not the leaders of the world, it's not the scientists of the world. But the people who are sitting here, we are the answer. Can I have an amen? Amen. We've got to pray. We've got to stand in the gap and pray. Your prayer, the prayer of the righteous, avails much.

And I'm glad I'm standing in a church which believes in prayer, which believes in prayer. I was just listening to Pastor saying, morning 5 to 6, 5:30 to 6:30, man, that's the time you really get good sleep. But you have sacrificed it, and you are praying. You think the heaven will sit quiet? No, no. It may take a while, but the answer is coming. Why am I passionate? People ask me, why? Why don't you take a break? You're running every day, 23, 24 days in a month. I'm away from home in the villages of North India. Sometimes people ask me, "How's your family?" I say, "We four live in four different places."

Why am I so passionate? My Jesus is passionate. When Jesus was in this world, there was no other agenda than just one: save the lost. I'll give you one example about the passion, then you think about what passion. You know, we always want to be like Jesus. Now, I just want to ask you this. When we look into, I think it's in Mark chapter 4, Jesus was preaching to the multitude, and suddenly in the evening, he tells his disciples, "Let's cross to the other side." Why on Earth is this emergency or urgency for Jesus to go to the other side? You know, his disciples could have given him 10 good reasons and said, "Jesus, this is not the time to go." Maybe one would have come and said, "Jesus, you are tired. Let's sleep here tonight, tomorrow morning first thing we will go to the other side." One would have come and said, "You are hungry. We will make some food for you. You eat dinner, sleep here. Tomorrow morning we will go." One could have come and said, "Jesus, there's thousands of people waiting here. You have been preaching to them right from the morning. They are still hungry. Give it to them. Tomorrow morning we'll go to the other side."

No. And maybe somebody came and said, "We don't have compass. You know, we may lose direction in the darkness. We may end up reaching somewhere else." Maybe Peter would have come and said, "Jesus, you don't know about the sea. You don't know about these waters. I know about you are a carpenter, but I have a Ph.D. in these waters. We cannot sail in the darkness because there will be rough weather, there will be winds and tides. We cannot go."

But every time when somebody came with an excuse or a valid reason, Jesus only said one thing: "We've got to go to the other side." What was so urgent? I'll tell you what was urgent. There was one man on the other side, one man crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on me." For one man, Jesus took the risk of his life. For one man, Jesus forgot his hunger. Jesus forgot all his tiredness. Jesus even gave away that multitude, and he went to the other side just for one man.

Do you see the passion of Jesus Christ? Do we have that passion? I always say like this: if I was the only sinner in this world, yet Jesus would

have come down and given his life for me. Because our God is not a God of multitude, he's your God. He's your God. I'm saying, he's your God. He's your God. He's your God. Let's have that passion. You may not be able to go to the North Indian villages, you may never be able to go to the place where Jesus has not, but that's all right. But at least you can sit in your house, and you can pray. God, send somebody. I'm not asking you to go carry your Bible, leave your job, and go to a village and become... No, no, no, no. God has called people with different talents and different calls. But at least you can be in your house, and pray every day, "Lord, let your revival come. Let your word go." It is our duty.

Sister, when she was leading the worship, she stressed on one word, the title that we will get is, "good and faithful servant." Believe me, when I go to heaven, Jesus is not going to come with a garland and say, "Welcome, Mr. President of Indian Evangelical Team." When you go to heaven, God is not going to welcome you by saying, "Oh, you are the best engineer of the software company that you were working in. Welcome, Mr. Engineer." Or, "Welcome, Mr. CEO." Or, "Welcome, Mr. President." No. The only title there you have is, "good and faithful servant." No matter what you have done, no matter how much you have worked hard, but there's only one title: good and faithful servant.

Or else, I don't know you. Now, what are you looking for? Let's be faithful to the call that God has given in our life. Let's bow ahead. Father God, we come in your presence, Lord, we thank you. Thank you for that call that is there upon a life. Oh, God, help us to recognize that, Lord. Help us to recognize, and help us to sharpen it in these days, oh, God. And as we hear from your word, oh, God, speak to us, oh, God. We don't want to hear a man's voice, absolutely not, oh, God. We want to hear from you, Holy Spirit. Lord, meet our needs specifically today, oh, God. And Lord, let no man take glory for what is being said here, but all the glory to the Father in heaven. In the name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

This is the day that the Lord has made, and we will, no matter what problem you are in, no matter what challenges you are in, but believe that God is going to give you a reason to rejoice. God is going to give you a reason to rejoice. Once again, I want to thank you for having me. I'm really enjoying this church, but I want to tell you, as we were worshiping, I was looking at these children, and I was praying. And I want to tell this church, you've got some Gideons, you've got some Samsons, you've got some Davids, you've got some Daniels sitting there. You've got to train them. And you don't know what you are going to see in the future. You are raising a mighty army through these children. And I want to tell you, don't ignore them. In the days to come, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years to come, you are going to see, if the coming of Jesus tarries, they are going to bring an earthquake in the spiritual realm. There are some Davids I can see, there are some Deboras there who are going to sing songs of victory in the days to come. There are going to be some Samuels who are going to be the voice of God.

I'm not saying this with my intellectual ability, I'm saying standing here as a servant of God filled with the Holy Spirit. Even last night when I was praying with the children, I saw unique, unique gifting of God. But parents, you need to be watchful. You need to cover them under the blood of Jesus Christ. If you want to see... I was telling somebody that your girl is going to be a worship leader. But if you really want to see her become a worship leader, it is your duty that you cover her, you pray for her, and you stand in the gap. If you don't do it, and if you lose it, it's not that child's fault, it is your fault. I might be sounding a little harsh, but I've got to say the reality.

You know, when Jacob was running from his brother, he was running without a destiny, he was running without a future, he was running without direction. You may say his mother said, "Go to my brother, Uncle Laban's house. He will take care of you." Now, you tell me, maybe you are from Bangalore, you are nice people, but Laban, if he was from a place like mine, and he goes, "How come, boy, you are here? What made you to come here?" He would say, "I cheated my father, I cheated my brother, and I'm here." You think the uncle will accept him? Only the Yalahanka brothers will accept him. There was no guarantee that he will be accepted. So, he was running with uncertainty, insecurity, fear, everything.

But in chapter 28 of Genesis, we read, suddenly, he starts praying to God, he starts pleading to God, and he is asking God to bless him. And in 28:15, we read God saying to him, "Listen, son, I am with you, and I will be with you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, and I will not leave you until I have completed what I have spoken to you." God is giving him four powerful promises there.

But how come, my question is, this boy who just took away the blessings of his elder brother, running, how does he remember about this God? The Bible doesn't say. But I strongly believe like this: when maybe he was 5 years old, maybe when he was 10 years old, his daddy, Isaac, would have called him, and he would have said, "Daddy, would you tell me a bedtime story?" And daddy would have told, "I'll tell you a real story. One day, when I was young, my daddy, your grandfather, took me to be sacrificed. I was taken all the way to Mount Moriah. But there, God provided. Jacob, do you know who is your God in times of your trouble, in times of your challenge? If you'll call out to this God, this God will listen to your prayer."

This story sunk into the heart of this young boy. Maybe sometimes he went to his mother and asked for a chicken curry, and mother would have said, "Boy, we don't have, but pray, God will provide." I'm just giving an example. And God provided. So, these little stories, it got sunk into the hearts of this little boy. And my Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should be, and he will never depart."

And so , when he was in trouble, when he was in real challenge, he knew the stories of his father and mother, and he remembered God of his father and his grandfather, and he said, "Right now, I don't have anybody to support me. Right now, I don't have anybody to stand with me. But I know one thing, I have a God who never leaves me, nor forsakes me." Hallelujah!

"I don't have anybody to lean on right now. I don't have anybody to give me security and safety, but I know the God of my father. I know the God of my grandfather. And if I kneel in His presence, no matter what, He will open the heavens for me. Today, I want to tell you, mothers and fathers, it's better to give God to your children than to give them the entire wealth of this world. Come on, Church, let me tell you. I don't know why I'm saying this; these are bonus words that I'm sharing. This is not in the scheduled message, okay? This is what God is asking me to give to you. You may give wealth to your children, you may give them the best education, you may give them all the properties of this world, but I want to tell you, everything can perish in one day. Everything. Everything can perish in one day. But if you have given them God, come on, Church, He will never leave your child. He will never forsake them.

I have two children. When my daughter was about 5 years old, my wife made a rule in the house: 'If you want dinner, memorize a Bible verse, tell me, and then you will have dinner.' So, our daughter was a very obedient girl, like her father. Very nice. Every day, she would come and recite a Bible verse, and she would get dinner. But then we had a boy. He grew up, and he was about four or five. Remember, boys will be boys, you know that, right? So, one day, he came home running and said, 'Mommy, I'm hungry, give me food.' Mama said, 'Food is ready, but give me the Bible verse.' 'Oh, Mama, I forgot. I'm so hungry. Just give me the food; I'll give you the Bible words after I have the food.' She said, 'Nothing doing. You've got to give me the Bible verse, that's the deal. Only then will you have your food.' This boy pleaded, but she did not budge. She did not move an inch. In Hindi, they say, 'She did not move a bit.' And this boy went crying. He went to his room. I told her, 'Suni, for today, just leave him, give him the food.' She said, 'Don't come in between.' I just went in. Somebody is saying, 'Yes, that's what happens. We all know who is the boss at the house, right?' Anyway, the boy went, and he's crying, and he's crying out, 'The Lord is my...' I literally saw that and thought, 'Is she a mother or a stepmother?' But I understood one thing: we are not going to be with our children all their life. The money that we give, the wisdom that we give, the education that we give, everything can perish. But the Jesus that we invest in their life, come on, Church, he will never leave your child. He will never forsake them.

Today, I'm so happy to be here. Turn with me to the book of 1st Samuel, chapter 30. I'm going to preach to somebody today. I am weak, but I am... come on, Church, I am weak, but I am... you forget so fast. How many of you are anointed here? Amen. Last night, I was very tired after ministering here. I was telling in the morning service, you know, if you really preach an anointed message, even for 40 minutes, you become very tired. I don't know about others, but that's what happens with me. And then standing and ministering to people, I was very tired. By the time we reached home, it was almost 11:00. Slept maybe close to 12:00, got up at 6:00. My wife, 'Hey, it's morning. Come on, get up.' So, I had to. I didn't want to, but she woke me up. There was a young man, maybe 27, 28, he was sleeping, and one day his mother comes and wakes him up and says, 'Boy, get up. It's 8:00.' And he's still sleeping. He said, 'Give me four good reasons why I should get up this early in the morning.' She says, 'Because you are a Christian, today is Sunday, you have to go to church, and because you are the pastor of the church.' So, she was indirectly telling me that this morning I slept like a baby. So, in the morning, I was ready to come here, and I really did not have time to prepare anything. So, while I was being driven to this church – I want to thank Brother Sudhakar for taking all the pain to drive me around; you know you get chauffeur-driven service when you come to Bangalore, it's a great privilege – so, I was asking the Holy Spirit, 'Please tell me what should I preach?' And God gave me this passage. I want to share with you. It's for somebody here. It's going to transform some lives today. In the morning, I felt a great presence of God.

1 Samuel, chapter 30. Now, it happened when David and his men came back to Ziklag on the third day, he saw that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag and attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire. Very interesting passage. We've heard this many times, we've read this many times, but today I want to speak to you what God has spoken to me here. David, he's not yet king. He has the anointing to become king, but he's not yet king. And right now, on the third day, he's coming back from somewhere. When you read chapter 29, you'll find out where he's coming from, what circumstances he's coming from. He's coming back, and from far away, he sees fire and smoke in his town or his village. Now, where is he coming back from? In chapter 29, if you read, he had gone to King Achish to help King Achish fight against Israel with the Philistines. I never understood even till today why this anointed man of God, who was appointed to become the king of Israel, is trying to align with the enemy of God's army and to fight against Israel. I've never understood why he did that.

But now, what happens as a result? Anyway, he was denied by the Philistines. The Philistines said, 'We cannot trust you. You cannot be trusted because you are an Israelite. We know the blood of Judah runs in you.' I mean, I'm just saying it's not in the Bible. You know, the blood of Judah runs in you, and we cannot trust you. You may change your plate when the game is in a serious note. So, he's coming back, he's being rejected, he's being insulted, he's coming back as an untrustworthy person. So, he, along with his 600 men, is coming back deserted. He 's coming back with his head held low. He's coming back with all kinds of shame, and you name it, he's coming back. And as he's coming back, maybe he's just thinking about one thing: 'I will go back home, and I will lean on my wife, and she will comfort me. I will sit with her, and we will talk about our good old days, and I'll forget all these things. I'll find comfort in her.' And maybe he's thinking, 'I'll go home, my boys will be there, I will pray, I will play cricket with Pastor Manohar, and we will enjoy some time there, you know?' So, he is coming with all these dreams, he's coming with all those hopes that he's going... We all do it, you know? When we are in the corporate world, or when we are working somewhere, we get firings from our boss, and when we are coming back home, we just wish, 'Oh, my wife would come with a couple of tea, and greet me, and I will hug her, and she will comfort me. We all look for those moments.'

So, he's also looking for that moment. He's coming back, and now, from far, what does he see? He sees something that he never wanted to see. The thing that he never wanted to see, the devil wants you to see, and that's what is happening here. He sees some fire coming, and when he looks very carefully, he sees smoke and fire, and now he understands that this is not the smoke or fire of the barbecue chicken that my wife always makes. It is a bigger fire than that. So now, his heart starts beating fast. Maybe he's rushing. He's rushing to Ziklag to see what is this fire all about, what is this smoke all about. He's running to that place, and when he comes there, what does he see? He sees something that he never wanted to see. The whole town of Ziklag has been burned down to ashes. The entire town has been burned down to ashes. He never wanted to see that. The tents, the houses, the crops, everything has been burned down to ashes. Now, why did this happen? I asked the Holy Spirit several times, 'Lord, how could this happen to an anointed man? How could this happen to somebody who is your worshipper, somebody who has always been your man?' And then I understood. When I read chapter 29, he did something that allowed the enemy to come in. He opened the gate. He allowed the enemy. He wanted to compromise. I want to tell you, many times, we have the enemy attack our life because we open the door for the enemy to come in by compromising. Many times in our life. But I want to tell you today, let us not be the people who will compromise at any circumstances. No matter what. Whether we are in good health or in bad health, or to win favor of people or to have things of this world, let us not be the people who will compromise. No matter what happens, He is my God, and the word of God is the base of my life. Come on, Church. I will never go out of this word. Psalms 119 verse 11 says, 'Lord, I've kept your word in my heart.' That is what you've got to be. The word of God is the lamp to my... Come on, Church. Feet. It should show you the direction. Not your intellectual power, not your wisdom, not the favor of others should show you the direction, but let the word of God be your path. One compromise, and the whole town is burned into ashes. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 5, it says, 'Therefore, watch out. The roaring lion is looking to devour you. Don't allow that. Don't allow that. One mistake of David, the town is burned down to ashes. But now, when he's... I want to tell you something today. Everything might be in ashes around you. You might be seeing ashes all around you. Wherever David was, he was seeing ashes. But nothing else. He was just seeing ashes after ashes. But he knew one thing: I have a God who will turn beauty out of ashes. Church, I'm talking to somebody today. You might be seeing ashes all around you. Your wealth is gone. Your health is gone. Your future is gone. You're worried about everything. You see nothing but ashes. But we have a God who will turn your ashes into beauty. I think it's in Isaiah chapter 61 or 63. It says, 'He will turn your... He will turn the ashes into beauty. Your mourning into dancing.' That's what our Sovereign God is. And I said yesterday that even though I am weak, I am anointed. David knows one thing: right now, I might be standing in the ashes, but I know one thing: I have a God who has anointed me, and I will come out of these ashes, and I will stand on the top, and I will sing the glory of God. Today, I want to tell you, no matter what ashes you are going through, no matter what weakness you are going through, but if you are anointed, nothing of this world can come against you. Come on, Church. Now, yesterday I said one thing: that David, the day he was anointed, 1 King chapter 16, he did not become king the very next day. No. He did not become king the very next month or the next year. There was a time period. It took years for him to become the king. You know? But what happened in between that? It was not a bed of roses for him. But in fact, from the day he became anointed, things were challenging. Things were pretty difficult for him. Before he was anointed, he was enjoying his shepherding life. He would go every day into the woods with the sheep. He would let the sheep loose, and he would just sing about the glory of God. Not worried about anything. Come back in the evening, have dinner, and sleep. Next morning, the same thing. No tension, no worries. But the day he was anointed, he started having problems. He started having challenges. He had to face the lion, he had to face the bear, he had to face the giant. He had to run for his life. He had been hiding in dens and caves. He had been running for his life. He had even come to a point where he had to act like a madman. This is what anointing does. You may ask, 'Yes, that is what the anointing does.' David had all the options to say, 'Lord, thank you very much for your anointing. I don't want it. You keep it. I'm good in the shepherd's field.' But David knew that righteous will go through many afflictions, but they will... Amen. When you have anointing, the entire hell is let loose against you. It's let loose against you. Why? Because the enemy knows that you have an anointing that will devour and destroy the powers of the enemy. And he will not go after an ordinary person, but he will go after somebody

who is anointed. I want to tell you today, if you are anointed, you will be troubled more than your friends. If you are anointed, you will have sickness in your body more than anybody else. You might be having the attacks of the enemy, but remember, in those days, this is because you are carrying an anointing that is going to defeat the plan and the purpose of the enemy in the future. And so, the enemy doesn't want you to succeed. But remember, today, I'm in challenge, but I'm anointed. Today, I am defeated, but I'm anointed. Today, I am in ashes, but I'm anointed. Today, I'm walking like a madman, but I'm anointed. I know the sufferings of this world are nothing compared to the glory that I will receive. Come on, Church, make some noise for God. If you're anointed, if you are anointed... My daughter, she's studying in college. From the first year, she's having problems after problems with her health, one after the other, one after the other, one after the other. And you know what I tell her? 'Daddy, nobody else has this kind of sickness. Nobody has this kind of health issues. I have 200 boys and girls who are my batchmates. Nobody. Why only me?' I tell her, 'Because you are anointed. Because you are anointed.' You are anointed. The devil is not interested in your friends who are not anointed, but the devil is interested in you because you've got something that others don't have. I remember, I watched Diego Maradona play when I was in school days. It was Argentina versus Germany, the final match. Man, they would not allow Maradona to take even one step. Three people were shadowing him. But they have left the others. They knew, 'This is the guy we've got to target, because if we target him, we will have the victory. If we target him, the entire team will lose.' That is what the devil is doing. He knows, 'I don't have to target the entire world. I just got to target this man. I just got to target this man. I just got to target this man. I just got to target this man.' That's it. I don't have to worry about everybody, but I've got to worry about this one who is anointed. If you are anointed, you will have problems, but cheer up. Today, you are called for a greater call. Come on."

Come on, church, I am weak today, come on anointed ones, make some noise! I feel like preaching, and when I feel like preaching, it is nothing less than three hours, Hallelujah! I feel the presence of God here, I feel the mighty presence of God. My time is up, 10 more minutes. I don't know how to finish it, everything is burned down to ashes but David is not giving up. Don't give up when you see ashes around you, don't give up, don't give up, don't quit. Many quit and many give up, but you are not called to give up because you have a God who will give you Victory even in the midst of challenges. You might have messed up, you might have messed up many times, and that is why you are standing in ashes, but that's all right. When you will come to Him and when you will repent, He will turn it back to you.

David knew he's messed up, but when he understood, you know what he did? I'll go very fast and then he says you know he saw everything was gone, his wives and children, you know he looked, everything is in ashes, everything. Okay, where's my wife? Where's my children? I got to find them, everything else, you know, this wealth, this property, I can work it out, I can make it again. But where are my children? My everybody's looking for their wives and their children, but they can't find it. And suddenly they hear that the enemies have taken them into captivity. I love the next sentence, "the enemy took their wives and children into captivity but did not dare to kill them." Man, that's something powerful. I can preach about it for the next two hours. They did not dare to kill. You know why they could not kill it? Because if you look into the culture of that time, if you look into the kings of that time, the first thing they do is they just chop off the heads of everybody. But here they could not. They might have taken the sword, they might have taken the sword to kill the wives and the children of David, but the sword would not come down. Something stood between the Sword and the people. What was that? God's presence. God's presence. God's presence stood. Why? God's presence stood because David was a worshipper of God. He was a worshipper of God. He messed up, it's all right, but God knew he messed up, my son messed up, that's okay, but I know his heart, he's a worshipper of mine, I'm going to stand for him. You might have messed up 100 times when, but it will matter the most, my God will come down from heaven and will stand if you are a worshipper of God, if you are a worshipper of God. Laban came to finish off Jacob in Genesis, he came to finish off, but you know what happened that previous night? God came to Laban and said, "Don't even touch my son." Why did God stand as a shield in between Laban and Jacob in favoring Jacob? Why? Because you read the testimony that Jacob says in 20 years, the hardship he has taken up, 20 years of his Integrity, 20 years of his faithfulness. But when in 10 times when Laban cheated him, God was quiet. God did not do anything, but when it mattered the most, Heaven came down. You might be thinking God is quiet, no, he's not quiet, my brother, he's not quiet, my sister, but when it will matter the most, my God will come down from heaven, and he will stand as a shield for you. The enemy wanted to kill the wives and the children of David, but they could not, the sword would not come down, why? Because no weapon of the enemy shall be prosperous against a child of God, no flaming arrow will ever touch you. Come on, Church, they could not kill, took them into captivity. You might have lost few things in your life, burned down ashes, and maybe some of your things are being taken into captivity. I want to tell you today, devil may take your blessings into captivity, but he doesn't have the authority to kill, because you are a child of God, he will think 10 times before he will think about killing your blessings, he cannot, he cannot, because you are anointed, you are anointed.

Now what did David do? Let's ask David what he did. You know, now what is happening? I'll just add one more thing, what is happening, the friends of David or the army men of David or the men of David, you know they are whispering to themselves, and what are they saying? "It's all happened because of David. It's all happened, he should not have gone to Ashdod, he should not have gone to support the Philistines, everything is because of him, pick up Stones, pick up Stones, we're going to kill him." Who are these men? You read chapter 22 in 1 Samuel, people who were in debt, people who were grief-stricken, people who were in depression, all kinds of unwanted people came to David, and he trained them to be Warriors, and now they are saying, "Your own people will reject you, your own people will reject you." But David knew one thing, you know this is the worst day of life, life of David brother, the worst today, nothing worse than this can happen right now. Everything is gone, his own people have rejected him, but David knew one thing, everybody May reject me, but my God will never reject me. You know, that is, you know the Psalms that David has written, next time when you call me, give me three hours to preach, okay? Nobody will know, David wrote Every Psalm with experience of his life, they life experience songs. When he says, even your mother will forget you, but God will not forget you, probably he is remembering this incident, my own people rejected me, but I know my God, come on, church, he will never leave you, he will never forsake you, be a worshipper of God. Now what is David doing? He's not reminding his people, you were debt-stricken, you were depressed, you came to me, and I trained you, and this is what, no, no, no, no, no, he's not bothered about now. What is David, just ask David what he did, he did couple of things, not couple of things, three, four things. Number one, you know what he did? The Bible says in verse 4, then David and the people were with him, lifted up their voice and wept. David knew the only way I can fight this battle is go into the presence of God, pray, cry in the presence of God. How we fight a battle? We don't fight a battle with our intelligence, we don't fight a battle with our money, we don't fight a battle with the things that we have, because we are not fighting against flesh and blood, we are fighting against the power and we fight our battles being on our knees. I just had four Amen's

we fight our battles being on our knees. David is teaching you, want to win your battles? Be on your knees. And I say like this, the one who falls to the knees, God will never allow that person to fall flat. Did you understand what I said? If you are a person who will fall to the knee, God will never allow you to fall flat on your face. David is praying, when was the last time we prayed like this? This is the time when you want to pray the least, you don't want to pray right now, you want to make strategies, you want to make plans, you want to sit with your people, okay, you attack from this side, you attack from this side, I'll go from this, no, no, no, no, no, you wait, let me hold on, let me go into the presence of God. When you don't feel like pray, that that is the time you got to pray. Do I make sense? Yes, yes, when you don't feel like praying, that is the time you got to pray, and how long did he pray? Not 1 minute, not 5 minutes, it says, till they had no strength. We pray for 10 minutes and we look 20 times into the watch. Today, everything has become instant, right? Coffee is instant, tea is instant, even food is instant, now ready to make empty our food, we want everything instant, but it doesn't work in the kingdom of God. Those who wait upon the Lord will soar high, we got to have patience. So, he prayed till he had no strength, we got to pray like that, pray till we have no, we got to drain our heart, we got to drain our strength in the presence of God, they pray till they had no strength, and then what happened? He called Abner, he's finding fellowship, he's calling the priest of that time, he's calling for fellowship, you got to find some fellowship with Saints, you got to find some fellowship, do you have a mentor, do you have a spiritual father, do you have somebody with whom you can sit and pray, you got to have somebody, yesterday I was talking about it, we got to have somebody. David is finding up the Abner, he's sitting with him, and he's inquiring of the Lord, and then he says, bring me the ephod, what is ephod? I don't have time, let me say, it is just a a garment that you put on and that reflects the will of God. It has those gems and stones that would tell you about the will of God, and he's wearing, what is he doing? He's inquiring of the Lord, he's asking the will of God. I want to tell you, I'm going, I just tell you one sentence, in every major decision of your life, inquire of the Lord, ask the Lord whether you should do it or not. If you will do it without the will of God, 100% you'll mess up, 100% you will mess up. Chap 3 says, do not lean on your understanding, but acknowledge God in all the ways of your life. We got to be the ones who will walk according to the will of God, and he asked God, God, shall I pursue them? He did not say, oh this should be the will of God, you know it has to be the will of God that I got to, if I will not go, who will go to get my wives and children? It should be the will of, no, no, no, no, no, he waited, he asked God, no matter how urgent we are, no matter how much emergency we are in, we got to ask the will of God, he asked the will of God, and He waited, said he waited for the answer. You know what is the beauty of our God? He will not ignore your prayer, he will answer you. He's not a God who has eyes but cannot see, he's not a God who has ears but cannot hear, he will hear your prayer and he will answer, give me one incident from the Bible where God did not answer the PE, answer the prayer of his people, he always answered, if he did it 2,00 years ago, if he did it 4,000 years ago, my Bible says in Hebrew chapter 13:8, he say yes yesterday, today and forever more. What he did for Abraham, what he did for David, what he did for Daniel, what he did for Paul and Peter, he's faithful to do it for you, he will answer your prayer. But you got to pray and wait, there's a waiting period, you got to pray and you got to wait, he waited and God answered, and God said, go, you will receive it, go, you will recover it, that's all David needed, that was a certificate and now he's walking with his 600 men, now what happens as he walks with 600 men, suddenly 200 men come to him and tell him, we are tired and we are not anointed, I'm just adding it up, so we will stay back here, we will stay back here, if I was in the place of David, I said what kind of guys you are, you are not worried about your wives, you're not worried about, you're worried about your, your health, come on, come let's go together, no, David was a good leader, he had compassion over them, he said you stay back here, it was not just a sign of good leader, but it was the trust he had on God, you know he was not walking with this man, probably he would have looked at the rest 400 said anybody else want to stay back, you stay back, David would have said all 600 want to stay back, you stay back, because I'm not walking with you, I'm walking with God, I'm walking with God, and I want to tell you church, I want to give you one formula that you don't find in maths, one formula that which you don't find in maths or on physics or chemistry or on any books, but I'm giving you this formula for free, what is the formula? You plus God is equal to Victory, you plus God is equal to come on Church, you plus God is equal to Victory, so David is saying it's not 400 men, it's not about 200 men, it's not about 600 men, it is about me walking with God, when I'm going to walk into the enemy's camp with God, no matter who comes with me or does not come with me, I'm going to walk with God and I'm going to have my victory. Today I want to ask you how many of you want to go to the enemy camp and recover everything that you have lost, lost your health, recover it, lost your money, recover it, lost your family life, recover it, lost your joy, peace today is the day, let's close our eyes this morning who...