Stephanie Ike Okafor - The Missing Step in Your Faith Walk

Do not let fear keep you in a barren place when they receding you. And it's more so because you're so worried about the conditions and the timing. You have to understand the conditions will never be great, the conditions will never be perfect. But it is always the time to surrender to the will of God. It is always the time to say, let me take a step in faith. So let's get into today. You know, as I've been praying just for what the Lord wants to say. You know, I know that the theme of this month is faith. And you know what a phrase was, a simple phrase the Lord just gave me. And it was to apply what you know. And so as I began to, you know, look into it in prayer. In other words, it's to put it into practice. You know, when we talk about faith, faith is not just about what you believe. It's about how you respond. And the Lord is not just calling us to be people of revelation because when we live by faith. I love the word of the Young Lady shared earlier the Scripture of the week about you know, walking by faith and not by sight, because when you walk by faith, there is a revelation of something God has shown you something he's you know, calling you to do, or a revelation of who he is. Right, so you're not living by what you see. You're living by the word that comes from the Lord. But we have to be believers that move from revelation to application. Right. You see in James one, verse twenty two, it says, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. I love this so much because you see so many examples in the scripture about people who moved from revelation to a place. You see Mary, the mother of Jesus at the wedding, the wedding in Cana And this is a wedding. Jesus has not even performed one miracle. Jesus has not done one sign or wonder. But Mary had a revelation of the child she was carrying. She had a revelation that this is the son of God. And in a moment where there was a need, they were at a wedding and Mary in this moment she might think she was African, like Jesus, don't embarrass me or not going to be at this wedding. And the family runs out of wine and Mary literally is telling him there is no wine, and he's looking at her like. What does that have to do with me? She ignores him. You know, trying to back out of the moment and literally tells the servants, whatever he tells you. To do, do it. It went from revelation to knowing that he has authority and he has the power to move concerning this matter. And even though Jesus literally says that it is not even his time, he still performed the miracle. And then you look at the woman with the issue of blood. There was a revelation that she had about Jesus. It was almost like in the Mercy of the Father. As she was looking at the works of Jesus as what she has heard about him, there was something that stirred up in her about the revelation of his authority, that not even that he doesn't even need to speak to me, he doesn't even need to touch me, that there is authority even in what he wears. And even though what she did was risky, because a woman with that, in that type of condition, had no business, according to the traditions of their time, touching anybody. It would make the other person to be unclean and so even though it was risky, she moved from just knowing of his authority to applying it to her situation. And then I love even when we read about Joshua, when Joshua would command the sun to stand still, when he will command the moon, Joshua had. Revelation about God. You see, Joshua remembered how Moses, how the Lord would use Moses to part the Red Sea. Joshua had seen how creation responds to the Creator, and Joshua is well aware that the Lord is with us in this battle. And so when he needed the Son to stand still, he literally just gave it a command. And then look at even what the Bible says in Joshua ten fourteen, there has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel. This was nothing. Joshua I had not seen this happen, but he knew that even though it was not that Moses commanded the waters to part, Moses received an instruction, but Joshua had a revelation. Creation responds to the one who is with us. So if I command the Son to stand still, it will. He moved from revelation to application. And you see, one of the things that I've learned about the Lord is that great faith. It's not really about the size of your faith. It's not that one person has little faith and another one has big faith. Jesus would even say, if you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move and it would be moved. So it's not about size in that manner. But great faith has to do with the depth of your revelation of who God is. And so when we look at applying what you know, I want you to study, really take your time and study the parable of the Sower, but I want to just go through it very quickly, because you see, in this parable, Jesus was teaching them about a man who was sown seeds. The seeds represented the word of God, and where he sowed the seeds represented the states of the hearts of people. And he gives this explanation of how there were some seeds sown on the wayside, some seeds were sown on stony ground, some seeds were sown among thorns, and all of them had the same outcome. They were unfruitful because of the conditions of their heart. There were people who had no depths in themselves about who really God is. And so even though they may get excited about the word of God that comes to them, you know, they easily get distracted. There were people who had made the pursuit of riches their priority over their pursuit of God, and so even when the word of God will come to them, they will ease get distracted. But then there was this unique set of people, and they were those that their hearts were described as good ground, and that when seeds were sown on good ground, that they became fruitful. And Jesus breaks it down that they produced some produced fruit at thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and one hundredfold. Now, what I love about this is that it's not about fruitfulness. It's not about comparison. The goal is to be fruitful because the person with thirty fold, the person that has no seed, might say, hey, why didn't you produce one hundred? At least I got thirty. It's better to have thirty than to have nothing. And so even though and what does this look like in a practical way, Because I remember this was a scripture that has always intrigued me when you think about the capacity is there's the difference between the capacity of a person that can sow and reaps thirtyfold and another that reaps sixtyfold and another that reaps one hundredfold. There is something you seeing. One thing with the Lord is that you just don't wake up. You give your life to Jesus and tomorrow you walk in maturity. Do you go on a journey with God? And that journey sometimes may feel uncomfortable to put yourself out there. That journey may feel, you know, strange, to put yourself in things that you're like, well, I've never tried this before. Lord, are you sure you want me to do this? And sometimes the outcome of that might be thirtyfold, sixty or one hundred, depending on where you are in the depth of revelation that you've come to know about the Lord. You see. An example of this could look like, let's consider healing. For instance, someone might read the scriptures and all of a sudden they start reading about how Jesus healed the sick, that whoever came to Jesus was healed. They were so inspired by the word of God that they just went on and set of praying for people to be healed. Out of ten people, maybe only. Three got healed. That's thirtyfold. They were inspired by what they read. There was a conviction. When they were reading the scriptures. The Holy Spirit highlighted it to them to show them. Look, the same Jesus that healed the sick when he walked the earth is the same Jesus that can. Do it through the Holy Spirit in you. And all of a sudden you just start walking around just looking for sick people. So and they sick people here, and let me just pray, and you might see that. Wow, oh, three people got healed, the other seven. Okay, Lord, you know that's on you. Now. Another person might read the scriptures about healing, they experienced the healing power of God in their body. Now they have a deeper conviction about God's ability to heal. So when that person starts praying for people to be healed, they're not only praying from knowing it in the world, but they have experienced it in their lives. Out of ten people, maybe six get healed. Sixtyfold. Now, another person read the word experience the healing power of Jesus, then has an encounter with the Lord, and the Lord says I'm sending you to the nations to reveal that I am a healer. And when the. Lord gives them this encounter, he reveals an angel who would accompany them of healing. When they pray for ten people, all ten got healed one hundredfold. You see how it progresses. But wherever you are, you have to apply what you know. You see, sometimes you don't want to apply what we know because there is the fear of looking foolish. There is the fear of what if this doesn't work? You say, I remember I was reading this. Some one posted something on social media and it says, you know, Jesus left heaven for you, and you can't leave your comfort zone for him, because if you want to grow in God, you have to put yourself out there. What have you come to know about the Lord and how can you apply it? When Pastor Agar was talking about the altar and sharing about okay, these are the funds we need to raise. If the Holy Spirit put it on your heart and it's going to be a sacrifice what the Lord tells you to give. But you know Jesus to be a provider. Why don't you apply what you know? Why don't you say you know what, Lord, me putting this seed in the ground. It's gonna be sacrificial to me. But I have known you to be a provider. So why don't I just give and watch you replenish me? Why don't I refresh what is be part of those that would, you know, refresh what the Lord wants to do, and watch how you would refresh my life? Apply what you know. When you want to grow in God, you. Have to take steps of faith, and it's not you know, these random things, because you would know that you're moving in faith when it's about serving others and not you. That's one of the biggest differences when you're trying to decipher this, is this voice coming from my desire or is it coming from the Lord? Who? Does it serve me or others? Because even if. There's something the Lord wants to do that you may get excited and it may make you prideful, he would first kill what is in your heart that would produce pride before he would assign you to do it. Everything about the Lord reveals his character, reveals his identity. And just as we talked about for the women in the room, when we talked about what is love, love is selfless, so it's something the Holy Spirit is partnering with you to do. It would always show how it serves others. And when you're walking. With God, if you've seen the faithfulness of God on one level, maybe you've not even experienced it, but you've read about it, You've heard people give testimonies about it. You know what, Lord, why don't I sew this and believe that you are God enough to meet my every need? Why don't I take a step out in faith based on the revelation of who you are, based on what has been highlighted to me? You see, we see this example even in the life of Peter when Peter, you know, Peter had a revelation of Jesus, and even when Jesus was asking them, he says, who do people say that I am? And they're telling him all these things, and then he throws it to them. He says, now, who do you say that I am? And crickets. But Peter said, no, you are the Christ, the son of the Living God. And Jesus looks at him, he says, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father, who is in heaven. So there was a revelation that Peter. Had of Jesus. So then all of a sudden, you fast forward. Now Jesus is walking on water and there's a storm. Peter is not the only disciple that sees Jesus, but there was. Already a revelation that he had. And then Peter now says, you know, Lord, if it's you bid me to come, Because now there is something that Peter is understanding world. He's the son of God, but he came as man like me. So perhaps what he could do if he commissions me, I could do it too. We look alike, we have flesh and blood. And so the Lord says to Peter, come. Peter, in the moment that he starts, he steps out of the boat thirtyfold because he acted on what he knew. He says, this is Jesus, the son of the Living God. If he bids me to come. He responds to that, he begins to walk on water, but then he loses focus. He goes from focusing on Jesus to focusing on the storms. Now, if Peter focused on Jesus, that would look like sixtyfold. If Peter had a confidence knowing that just because Jesus said, I could walk on water. I'm gonna walk on water one hundredfold. But regardless of where you are, guess what you're fruitful. Because so many times we want to focus on the fact that Peter drowned, but there were disciples who never even got out the boat. We want to focus on Peter's failure, but people that never even took a step, so they don't even know what it feels like to be standing on water. You know, back then, there's no surfbirds to even make you feel like you're, you know, catching a waiver or two. They don't even know that. But Peter at least experienced fruitfulness. So now the question that when the Lord starts telling me, tell the people apply what you know, because you see fruitfulness. It's not about perfection, it's about progress. And you cannot be scared to take. A step out. There are things that the Lord might be instructing you to do, and you're too worried about what it looks like. You're too worried about what people will think. But there is a scripture that maybe the Lord has already highlighted to you. I loved it. Even when we were talking about the altar and Pastor agu highlighted the scripture of what will take place, a scripture that the Lord has given to say, you know what this would be what we are anchored in. What if there is a scripture that God has just there's something that the Holy Spirit just used to stand out to you. If you move in this, this is the word that you should stand on. I will be with you. Yes, I might be sending you into an unknown land, but then you just know that the Holy Spirit keeps reminding you of a Bible verse that says I will be with. You, and you hold onto that and you apply it. I remember when I was pregnant with my first daughter, and literally, you know, there was some complications and things happening, but there was one thing Jesus said to me that I held onto. He says, no harm will come to this child, and I held on. I hold onto that till today. My daughter tries to act like a gymnast. She's not even two, you know, just jumps everywhere, and even when you know she makes to does something, she's too quick before you can capture and she falls out. Look at her and I'm like, no harm will come to you. So I don't know what you're doing. Over there, but no harm will come to you, and so you gotta take a step. Maybe the Lord is talking, maybe there are things you've seen in scriptures about perhaps healing, but you don't want to pray for anyone because you're like, well, if it doesn't work, it's not about. You, you see why. There are times that you will not feel and God does this on purpose. He doesn't give you all the facts ahead of time. He doesn't make you feel so confident in yourself because it's not about you. It's about Him. And you have to be able to kill self if you're going to rise in God. If you're too focused on how you would look. You're not even You have not gotten started with God yet. If you're too caught upon what people will think, you have not gotten started with him. So there are times that on purpose, God only gives you a little bit of information that is enough for you to take a step. It's not enough for you to feel like, wow, this is gonna happen, you know. I remember, even when when I think of ministry and even how the Lord started to train me in the prophetic and in the beginning it would be there was one story I would never forget in my life, and I remember seeing this lady and I kept like hearing a name. That was it. That was all God gave me, was this name. And I'm just and I'm like, okay, Lord, I don't know what you want me to do. And I could the Holy Spirit put it so strong on my heart speak to this lady and I reach out to her and I asked her, you know, if that was her name, and she was like, no, that's not my name. And immediately I said, wow, you just remind me who of somebody by this name? And I just way, I said, Lord, that was embarrassing. And he says, you're making it about you, because if you just allowed in that moment, if you removed self from the picture, I will continue to unfold things. Then I will tell you what that name meant and what angle to go about it. And so when the Lord wants to train you in a thing, he's not first trying to train you in accuracy of what you're doing. He's trying to train you on dependency on him. So you have to first embrace the fact that everything I do is according to me being dependent on God. If the first time that God wants you to give somebody a word. Jesus comes down from heaven, walks into your room, opens the door, says, hey, tomorrow, you're gonna meet this person in blue. You're gonna be like, yeah, all right, let's do it. I just spoke to Jesus yesterday. But then when all you have is blue shirt, and then you see someone in the blue shirt and the Holy Spirit prompts you, I want you to talk to that person. You have no clue what you're gonna say, but it's in your yielding. So there is something God has already revealed to me about this my What he's training me is how to be dependent on him. When the Lord gives you an instruction. There is a reason why the Lord will tell you to start the business, but you don't have the funding. All you have is enough actually to just lay a foundation. He's training you to be dependent on him. Because at the end of. The day, whether you're in the thirtyfold or the sixtyfold or the one hundredfold, you're fruitful. And the command to humanity is to be fruitful. Do not let. Fear take do not let fear keep you in a barren place. When they're receding you and it's more so because you're so worried about the conditions and the timing. You have to understand the conditions will never be great, the conditions will never be perfect. But it is always the time to surrender to the will of God. It is always the time to say, let me take a step in faith. And as I was praying for this message and my prayer, my belief was that the Holy Spirit would minister to you so clearly about what is that area in your life that you've literally you're crippled, But not because the Lord has not given you mobility. You have cost yourself to be crippled in that area because you're too worried about the conditions, the surrounding, the looks, the people. Rather than just applying what you know, put it into practice. Don't just hear the word, do it. Don't just read scriptures. Asks the Holy Spirit. Now, how do I translate this to my everyday life? What is this scripture teaching me about how I can live my life? What is this scripture teaching me about how I can find more dependency in Christ? In your time of prayer, it's not just a time to pour out and let the Lord know all the requests you have, but also a time to sit and receive from him. Lord, this is a day that you have made. What would you like me to do in it? Don't just go about your routines and your schedules. What has Heaven announced and recorded concerning this day? Lord? Would what is it that you've said to me that I've put as a backburn in my mind? What are the things I'm supposed to step into that I'm holding myself back from, even just as Pastor Schelah was speaking earlier about, you know, with dreams and everything, there is a common dream that people always have, and that's when they see themselves either writing an examine, failing missing a bus, missing a train, you know, supposed to get on the flight and they miss their flight, or always finding themselves in like the house they grew up in that they don't live in anymore. How many people have had such dreams because that dream is the Lord warning you you're supposed to move onto a new season and you're still stuck in the old. Apply what you know. Get out of your familiar place, get out of your comfort zone. Because when you read the Bible, you're not reading a story book. What you're reading is a lie. What you're reading reads you, It speaks to you. There are times that they are prophetic words that you may never get from a dream or a vision or a person. You may get while reading the scripture. Something jumps at you and the Lord says, now, this is connected to the next season of your life, but what have you done with it? I want us to take a moment and pray. Just stand with me. Thank you Lord, Thank you Jesus. And what I love so much about ministry is that even in this it's never dependent on just who we are or what we say. It's dependent on what the Holy Spirit is doing as we're ministry. And so if you're in the house right now and there are things that the Holy Spirit brought to your memory, their errors in your life, where you're just like, yeah, man, I have been stolen on this because I don't know what it looks like. I don't have a plan, I don't have a real strategy. All I have is a word. That's fine, because God wants to train you to be dependent on him. Because outside of dependency on God is dependency on self. And then self becomes a God. And what begins to influence you is a different spirit, no longer the Holy Spirit. And so if you know that the Lord has been speaking to you in this time, because one of the things he showed me was just what he wants to do as we pray, and I want to invite you to the altar and I want you to understand this. For those who are you know, tuning in and in the other in the hub, just you're prophetically you're a part of this. And even if you can take a just move, move from whatever position you're into another position, because something about altar calls is what it represents spiritually. It's not just taking a walk down, walking back to your seat. No, I'm walking into change. I'm walking into transformation. I'm walking into my deliverance. I'm walking into agreement with God. That how the mindset I came in with. I'm not gonna be the same person when I leave. And so if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, then I want you to just come down very quickly and we're gonna pray. There's some things that will scare you, and it's supposed to because you're not gonna do it by yourself. It scares you in the flesh or you will feel empowered in the spirit. It's when you don't have confidence in yourself you find yourself at the cross. That's why there are times you would read prayers in the Bible. Lord, we don't know what to do, but we look to you, and even for those at the hub, you can also step forward their pastors that are present. You see, sometimes we think that the fact that we are in a place where we're not as confident in the thing that we're doing, that it makes us weak. No, is actually where you find your strength in God. Sometimes applying what you know would make you look like the lesser person. That's okay. At least you'll be fruitful. Never be concerned about what the narrative people have about you, because remember, God doesn't look at the outer appearance. He looks at the heart. You want to be concerned with what God is looking at. Never be concerned by the chatter, because the chatter is a distraction in itself. You're concerned about, you know what. People just feel like I'm doing too much. Now where are you in your heart? In my heart, this is about my surrender to God in my heart. This is my obedience to God in my heart. I know this is about my posture of humility before God. It's not about if I look like the lesser person, if I look naive, if I look foolish, all those things. It's not about that. It's between me and God. I remember there were times when I was growing up, and you know, people will always make fun of me, and. They will say, like, you know, I'm so naive. My view on life is very naive and childish and things like that, and I remember that. I will go to the Lord and I'm like, you know what, I think I want to do some crazy stuff, so I'm not naive anymore. And then the Lord will show me that's actually your strength, that's actually your gift. Don't listen to the chatter. Focus on me. If you know God to be a healer, if you know him to be one that reconciles, if you know him to be a provider, if you know him to be a. Way maker, whatever you know him to be, it doesn't even matter. If you've never seen it happen. When Joshua told the son to stand still, the Bible recorded that it had never happened when the Lord will listen to a man, When the woman with the issue of blood would touch Jesus all even that the disciples. I mean, I'm sure that maybe I don't think Jesus was the one doing his own laundry. Can you imagine people are washing the garments that another woman sees as has authority in it, the same garments that people were just washing and treating anyhow, and just you know, flinging about. Another woman sees that garment and knows all I have to do is touch it. She had a revelation and she applied what she knew. That's the difference. That's where God wants to take you to not just accumulating information and knowledge, do something with it, because if you do nothing with it, then it's taken from you. And what does that mean the conviction of the world you no longer have it. Conviction is a gift. When a word convicts you is a gift from the Holy Spirit. When you lose con about the Word of God, it's been robbed from you. When you read something and it jumps at you move. Once you have that conviction, do something with it. Don't sit on it, because if you do, you lose it. The conviction is the presence of the Holy Spirit to partner with you and the thing God wants to do. That's the power of even prayer. Prayer is not just about the words you speak. It's about the conviction you have when you speak it. That is what the spirit realm responds to. The spirit realm is not just responding. You can say Jesus in the Spanish community. That's people's names. They call it her Zeus. If you have no conviction, they might think, oh, maybe she's calling the neighbor. But when you have a conviction about who Jesus is is different. Demons respond to that. How is it that the same name that someone could call their child that when you use that name, demons tremble conviction. There is something I know about that name that changes everything. When there's something that convicts you about the word of God, when there's something that convicts you about how you should live, how you should walk, the things you ought to do, run on it. Don't waste time, make a move. When Peter was convicted that he could walk on water, immediately he said, Lord, if you bid me to come. I will come. And then he started if. He started wrestling with himself and he's like, oh, yeah, maybe not, the conviction would leave, and then instead of him walking on water. He would be asking Jesus, how did you do it? Conviction is a gift from the Lord. Don't waste it. Whatever the Holy Spirit is, even bringing back to your memory in this time, run with it. There's a mighty man of God that is late now and it's one we all admire, you know, even in the Nigerian community. And I remember there was a story they spoke of him. They said the first time he read that Jesus raised the dead, he said, wait, if Jesus. Did it, I can do it too. He started going from house to house looking if there's any dead. That sounds crazy, who will just have a dead person in their house? But he had a conviction there was something he knew that God can raise the dead. I'm going to look for a dead person. And actually, finally he goes to a house that someone just died and he prays and the person came back to life. That was the start of his ministry. Don't waste the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Because when the scriptures talk about things like and those that don't understand it, it will be taken from them. What does it meaning the conviction that comes in that moment when you do nothing with it. It's taken from you. Just close your eyes for a moment, and whatever the Lord has placed on your heart, just begin to pray, Begin to talk to your father and tell them to step in this matters. Take a moment and even repent. Say, Lord, I know you've already forgiven me. What I receive, that forgiveness. Of me walking in my own strength, believing in my own ways, believing that I need to have all these things figured out before. I make a move. Lord, I repent of my ways, and I'm going to walk in the direction that you have called me to. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord Jesus, we love you. We thank you for what you're doing in the hearts of your sons and daughters in this moment. And we thank you, Lord God for the conviction that you have placed within them, for the things that you have called them to do, the conviction of the truth of your word, the conviction of your presence of God, the conviction that even their rooms they step into and there's a knowing of what they ought to do. But Lord, I thank you that where they have aired, that in this moment of repentance, that Lord, you will show yourself faithful, that your children will be fruitful, and they will not judge their fruit by the fruit of another. But they will look at it and know that it's about progress. If I'm fruitful, my father is pleased. It's about progress, not perfection. So Lord, journey with them, lead them to the place of maturity in you. But I thank you that they would know that as long as they are walking with you, that that's what matters. As long as they're. Learning how to be dependent on you, that's what matters, because you would always show up, even in what we may call the last minute, you will always show up. So let us walk with the faith of knowing that we have a God that will never fail us. We have a God that will never leave nor forsake us. We have a God that walks with us. And this is about fellowship and intimacy with him. It's not just about reaching a destination. It's not just about accomplishing a goal. It's that when you reach the finish line, you know more about Jesus than you did at the start. I thank you Lord that they will focus on what truly matters, in that you are the genesis and the revelation of everything that we do, and it would always be about you. So strengthen your daughter, strengthen your sons, and we thank you that you will always be glorified in and through our lives. In Jesus' mighty name, we pray Amen, Amen, Amen, God bless you