Facing Your Giants

Facing Your Giants

by Wayne Dailey
Senior Pastor, Bethel Revival Center
43 Norwood St.
Everett, MA 02149

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I Samuel 17:31,32And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

The Spirit of God was with David. He was a chosen vessel of God, and God has His eye on Him. David was destined to become a great man, no matter what. It was the plan of God that he become a great man. He was destined to go in that direction. Why? Well, in the plan and the purpose of God, David was made to be a man after God's own heart.

But now there's trouble and there's war vexing the land. Israel had an enemy in the Philistines. They were neighbors, but they were enemies. The Philistines were always warring against Israel, always wanting to conquer and steal land. They wanted to . . . but that was not in the plan and purpose of God.

Here, Israel is battling against the Philistines, and it came to the place where the Philistines sent Goliath out to put a spirit of fear over Israel — with this huge giant who was nine-feet-plus tall. Nobody wanted to fight the likes of him! Everybody was afraid of this giant; fear gripped their hearts, even the heart of the king. Here's King Saul. He wasn't a little guy. He's spoken of as being head and shoulders above everyone else. King Saul was a big man, but he didn't seem big that day. He didn't seem big against that giant out there, who was raving and trying to scare everyone.

I Samuel 17:17,18
And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

David had gone to take food to his brothers who were in the war, and when he got there, he heard Goliath defying the armies of Israel.

The Challenge

I Samuel 17:23,24
And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

Nobody would fight with the giant. Nobody had the courage to take up his challenge. But here comes David. When David heard the giant raving and threatening Israel, God touched his heart.

David may be just about seventeen years old, just a lad yet, just a young man. He's not a man of war. He's never fought in a war. But somehow, when he heard what the giant was saying — "Send a man to fight with me" — David felt in his heart he was that man. He wasn't afraid of Goliath, and he went to talk with Saul about confronting Goliath.

I Samuel 17:33
And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

So here's David, a young man in his youth; and here's the giant, whose been a warrior ever since he was in his youth; and young David wants to go fight this giant.

I Samuel 17:34-36
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

David, now, is going to encourage Saul to let him go down, by telling him how God had used him and how the Lord was with him. That would be the only reason I would think that Saul would let him go out there: to think that David had no fear to go, and that the Lord was with him.

I Samuel 17:37
David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

Faith in the Name of the Lord

David took his sling with him. He knew two things here: He knew his weapon, the only thing he knew that really worked for him (though a sling isn't what you would consider as a weapon of war). He also knew how to use the name of the Lord — and that is what would certainly make the difference.

David wasn't going to be afraid just because he had never faced any battles. After all, he had battled the lion and he had battled the bear, and to battle this giant wouldn't be any different to him. He just sizes it up to think in his mind that it's not any different. It isn't how big Goliath is nor how tall: It's how great the Lord is and how great the name of the Lord is.

What you can do in the name of the Lord! Each of us probably doesn't know half of what we can do in the name of the Lord. I know this much: Paul taught us that everything we did should be done in the name of the Lord. All the deeds we do ought to be done in His name.

So, there is a greatness about the name of the Lord. We should want to be in the place where His name is on the tip of our tongue. Are we doing something? Let's do it in the name of the Lord. Let's do it as unto Him. And in the end, if we've done a good thing in His name, He will reward us for it.

These two armies are out here, now, with a valley between them: one army on one side, and one on the other. They were at loggerheads for forty days. For forty days nobody's moved. There's nobody wanting to rise up to challenge the giant. This is what bothered David. Nobody was rising up to fight the giant; nobody wanted to put him down.

David thought it was terrible that this uncircumcised giant should be allowed to defy the army of Israel, daring them to send someone to come fight him.

Why doesn't somebody rise up? I guess it will always be that way. And somehow there will be that person who will step up and take up the challenge, while the rest shrink back, scared out of their boots.

Maybe there's a message in this that it ought to bring a lot of great courage and a lot of great strength to all of us.

Now, David must have been convincing to Saul. Saul hasn't had much to say to David, but he's listened to what David had to say to him. To hear how God had been with this young man must have inspired Saul within that God had sent David to help them — God sending him to the battle. The Lord had sent somebody.

Saul was afraid to go, and now here's young David with such courage. Isn't it amazing that Saul would ever think to let a young man like David go out to battle this giant?

The Lord delivered me from the lion and from the bear! It wasn't like David was boasting what he could do. He was letting Saul know what the Lord did: "The Lord delivered me out of the paw of the lion and the bear. The Lord delivered me!"

We need deliverance out of many things that come along. Do you ever find yourself in trouble? Have you ever faced any problems? Sometimes problems seem so evasive of any solution or answer.

"What will I do? I don't know what to do!" Wringing our hands in despair: "I don't know what to do!"

I guess everyone that saw Goliath that day felt that way — everyone but for one: Here was this young lad who was ready to go fight, and go alone if he had to. He didn't ask for any help. He was ready to go in the name of the Lord.

That's what I like about David. This was a man whom God had made to be that way. From his youth, David was different. He was different from his brothers. They were on him, thinking he was up to no good when he brought food from their father. When David got there, he heard the ranting and raving from this giant. He turned aside to see and to listen.

Wrong Voices

I Samuel 17:28,29
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

"Get out of here and go home, before you get yourself killed!" He accused David of being nosy and told him to go back home. But David went right on talking to the others, went right on asking questions about Goliath. He didn't pay any mind to Eliab's accusations.

I Samuel 17:30
And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

Sometimes you just have to stop listening. Yes, if you're listening to the wrong voices, you need to stop listening. As long as you entertain the wrong voice, you'll listen to things you probably shouldn't hear: things that aren't worth hearing, things that would disturb your heart and life and soul.

Now, we need to recognize here what God can do with anybody He sets His heart to place His hand on.

So, the young man David is about ready to step out into the arena of success. God is going to take this young man and cause him to step out into the arena: and from this day on, the successfulness of his life will be known to everyone.

I Samuel 17:37b
And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

Saul said, "The Lord be with you," but he didn't know that truth personally. There's no story about how Saul killed any giants. But he takes this from David's own testimony, how the Lord had delivered him from the paw of the lion and the bear.

The Wrong Weapon

I Samuel 17:38,39
And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

So, Saul was ready to let David borrow his armor. You can't imagine everything a man put on when he put on armor. With all of that weight — trying to protect himself from someone's sword or spear — if he fell down, it wouldn't be easy to get back up on his feet.

Saul is trying to give this to David. David only had his sling. And he said something we should take to heart: "I have not proved your armor."

If you're going to war with a weapon, you need to make sure you know how to use it. You need to go through a time of training that you might prove your weapons. What point would there be to go out to battle with a weapon you didn't know how to use?

David knew what to do. He had not proved Saul's armor, but he had proved his sling and proved the name of the Lord.

This goes to show, if you have the name of the Lord, and you believe in Him and trust in Him, you don't really need any other weapons. If you did, it might be something so insignificant that nobody would ever consider it as being a weapon of warfare.

I never heard of any war where the army thought the greatest weapon they had was a sling. What army went out to battle with only a sling to fight with? But that's just what David did. He didn't have time to prove those other weapons. And, besides that, Saul was a head and shoulder taller than anyone else, so that his armor and his sword would only be added weight for David.

I Samuel 17:40
And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

How do you face something like this without being afraid? David had nothing but the name of the Lord and a sling. So, he's picked up five smooth stones and drew near to the giant. He wasn't planning on running away. He wasn't fearful, for he was trusting the Lord.

The Confrontation

I Samuel 17:41
And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

The giant took a look at David and saw that he was nothing but a kid. His face was smooth because he was only a youth. Remember, this giant doesn't know what God can do. God chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Here He chose a foolish thing to confound a whole army: sending a mere youth out there alone to face their great champion.

I Samuel 17:42,43
And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

Goliath was trying to curse David through his false god, thinking there was some power there. There's no power in any false god, in any god of wood, clay, silver or gold. Idols have eyes but they can't see, ears but they can't hear.

But David's God wasn't an idol. David didn't have any idols. He had the true and living God. He had the only real God there is. And this is what was bound to make the difference.

I Samuel 17:44
And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

David wasn't someone who was going to allow these threats to put fear in him. He wasn't afraid of the giant, or his words, or his size. The giant wants to make him fearful by threatening him, trying to get him to believe he was going to be killed and have his body thrown to the birds for food.

But this doesn't stop David. He's not moved by these words. He's not afraid. He wasn't afraid of the bear nor was he afraid of the lion, and he knows he has no need to be afraid of the giant.

Let's thank God there's a place in our heart and lives where we can have great courage and great faith deep inside: where we're not afraid to launch out or step out in faith, not afraid to do something we've never done before. We shouldn't let everything be such a threat to us that we're afraid to do anything new.

I Samuel 17:45
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

That's laying it out there pretty plain: "I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts." The Lord of hosts is the Lord of the battle, the Lord that fights His people's battles.

We find many battles in the Scriptures where God fought for His people. We can examine them and see where there was a supernatural element, a thing you couldn't see with your eyes until it was over.

Where did David get the courage to speak up like this? His courage was being manifested here. If he was going to fail, he would fail right here. He would turn and run as fast as he could run: but he didn't. He didn't give in to that realm of fear. Suddenly, he's not acting like a youth; he's acting like a grown man, like a man with understanding and wisdom, like a man whom God has given something to fight this battle with.

He's never been here before. He's never been in a battle, never been in a war, never been a soldier. This is new to David. He never had an experience like this, but he did have an experience against two wild animals: a lion and a bear. That's the only experience we read of where he had faced anything like this.

And you don't need any experience other than trust in the Lord. It isn't a matter of experience; it's a matter of the name you're trusting in: the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.

Being in such a situation would put such pressures on you that you'd probably have a breakdown right on the spot. You wouldn't know what to do. You'd tremble in fear: "In a moment he's going to devour me!"

But David doesn't have any fear of that. David isn't going out there with fear. He's going out there with faith.

If you want to see a good example of faith in action, look at this. David's word to Saul was that this giant was just like the lion and the bear. He was no different to him. So David's experience was minor compared to what he was facing now: but he's there facing it with courage. He's facing it without any fear.

He had this in his heart: This giant was defying the armies of the living God, and something ought to be done about it. That giant ought to be stopped! He's defying God and the army of God. This seemed to put a spunk in David, like he's out there on God's side of this battle, like he's the only one on God's side. The children of Israel are all out there afraid on the other side of the valley, and they saw young David going out against the giant.

Now there was a hitch to this: It wasn't just going out against the giant. Goliath had made the deal that whoever wins, the other side would be their servants. Can you afford to lose in a deal like that? Here's a young man who had never fought in a war. This is his first battle.

We need faith in these days. We have battles to face. There's no doubt about it: The adversary is out to war against the church of Jesus Christ in every way he can, trying to hinder the church in this last day from standing firm and fast with the Lord.

So, we have seen young David getting courage from somewhere, getting strength from somewhere. This wasn't physical strength. David didn't flex his muscles and boast of his natural strength. He was but a youth, and there he was in the battle.

NOthing but God

We've got to think in our minds that there has to be something here. David wasn't looking for anything that was his. He's totally abandoned everything else but God. He took those small stones and put them in his shepherd's bag: five little stones. What were they against this giant? I mean, what are you going to do with five stones and a sling?

But David had that one thing that we all ought to know: "I'm coming out against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied."

That's what you and I have got to have. Don't look to your fists; don't look to your muscles; don't look to your mind and cry out, "What am I going to do?"

It was God moving David's heart. He was not afraid of that giant. He got a little demonstration from the giant that day trying to scare him, trying to make him feel he was no match, trying to make him turn and run.

It would be expected of a youngster like this that about the time you'd think the battle was beginning, he'd take off on the run. If David had done this, the Philistine army would be laughing at how Israel dared to send a kid out to face the giant — and just look at him run!

They didn't know what was about to happen. They didn't know what it was to come force to force with God.

Don't ever boast what you can do! That can get you in trouble. Don't brag on yourself: "I can do it! I can handle this myself."

You're nobody. You're just flesh and blood, a mere person. Who are you to fight against such things as this? What match are you against all these forces? You've got to come to that point, to that place, where you abandon those kinds of thoughts and ideas about yourself.

David is not relying on himself. He isn't relying on his slingshot. David is relying on the name of the Lord and on what the Lord will do for him if he goes out in His name.

That's what he learned out there with his sheep. Yes, he learned to put his trust in the name of the Lord. God must have taught him some things out there, and he was prepared.

I suppose this young man is the one most prepared of both the armies of Israel and of the Philistines. Prepared. David has refined himself to trust God alone to lead him out and deliver him from this giant. He's not trusting in anything else. The giant is trusting in everything he has: from his big mouth, to his big stature, to his big sword. He's dependent on all that, but David is only depending on the Lord.

So, the story gets very interesting when you look at it as an example of what can happen when you have the Lord on your side, and you are loving Him with all your heart, trusting Him with your all.

The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Hebrews 13:8). Remember, He can be with you today: He can be with you in the trial of your faith today. He can be with you in the battle you face today. Yes, He can be with you in any and all situations that confront you.

We always want to believe and expect that, no matter what, God is our Rock, He is our defence, He is our refuge and strength, He is our shield and buckler (see Psalm 18 and 62). Yes, God is our all in all. He is our secret place.

This is what we depend on. We depend on Him and what He puts in our heart and life.

David's going out with only that. Now, is David's God real? If there's no real God, then David is in real trouble! He's going to be made mush. He's going to be chopped up by the giant's sword. If there's no God, that's what David will encounter.

But if there is a true and living God (and you do believe there is, don't you?) — if you believe in God and put your trust in Him, and you know Him personally — then you know David is right on target. You know that David is doing the thing he should do. You know that God has His hand on David and has inspired him, has touched him and put something within him to give him the courage to stand in this battle.

And to know that God is with David is to know that God is with you. If God is not with David in all of this — if God is not going to defend David as he steps out and puts his life in God's hand when he faces the giant who is defying God to His face — then David is going to be . . .

It's not like we're defending God. We don't have to defend God. He's big enough to defend Himself. But this is brought down into human terms here so we can understand, down to where we can see it clearly.

This was an actual confrontation right on the battlefield. There was a great giant, and there was a young man facing him. And that young man is trusting only in the Lord.

The giant is ranting and raving, confident in his own greatness and what he is going to do: "Come to me and I will give your flesh to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field." "I will . . ." That's pride, isn't it?

I wonder what this giant's going to think when his "I" will fail him? He was trusting in his sword and his spear, trusting in a false god, trusting in himself.

We're not to trust in ourselves, nor in anything or anyone else other than in God. This brings us to the point, then, where if David is really trusting God, we're going to see a miracle take place.

David was about to rise and become one of the greatest warriors there was. Yes, David became a great warrior because God's hand was upon him.

All for God's Glory

I Samuel 17:46.47
This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands.

David said he was doing this that all the world would know there's a God in Israel. It wasn't so the world would know that David was a great man or that David was going to become a great king. It's all taken away from himself and giving all the glory to God. And this is what the Lord would want us to do.

This day will the Lord deliver you into my hand. David's dependent now, when he meets that giant, that the Lord is going to meet him right there and deliver the giant into his hand. The Lord was going to bring the giant to David so he could kill him and stop his mouth from defying the armies of the living God.

This was confidence in the Lord. It takes God to have courage, and that's what He gave to David.

Now, David's looking beyond just the giant. He's looking at that army. It wasn't just the giant who needed to be taken care of, but the entire Philistine army. And God is able to deliver Israel from everyone in that army.

II Corinthians 10:4
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

David's trusting in the name of the Lord is not carnal; but what the giant was trusting in (his big sword, his great ability and his years of experience) is carnal, fleshly. Goliath can't succeed with all of that when someone is coming against him in the name of the Lord.

Whose Battle Is It?

Now, the battle is the Lord's. David is facing the giant in the name of the Lord because the battle was not David's. It's the Lord's battle, and it's up to the Lord what He does with the giant. It's up to the Lord what He does with this army. It's up to the Lord how they will be put to flight. It's up to the Lord what He does.

Yes, David knew the battle was not his but was the Lord's. God is feeding David this information right on the spot. It's poured into his heart and out of his mouth right here and now. He was never in such a situation before. Where would he ever learn these things? You don't learn this out of a text book. You can learn it out of the Bible, but you also can see that there was nothing prior to this for an example for David to look at.

This is the thing we've got to see: the battle is not yours. Why don't we bring that point home? What are you fighting? What are you wrestling? What are you struggling with in your life? What is it that's always a battle to you?

Maybe you're trying to fight that battle in yourself. Maybe you're trying to fight it with carnal weapons. But in a lot of these battles, what we really need is what David is trusting in.

I believe, as children of God, the things we face, the things that fight against us, are not really our battles — even though we're trying to fight them in ourselves. I believe that when we shift ourselves over to trusting the Lord and recognize, as children of God, that God's going to fight our battles, we'll begin to see the victory.

Many battles are not against flesh and blood, but are against the devil. We can't see our adversary, and we need to bear in mind the battle is not ours: The battle is the Lord's.

As soon as we can shift it over in our minds and hearts that the battle is not ours but is the Lord's, we will find the Lord is going to fight the battle.

Now, I need something from that. There's got to be something more than what I've said. There's got to be a faith in the Lord that He's going to fight the battle. We've got to trust that the Lord is going to fight the battle. We've got to lean on the Lord. We've got to put His name in it, coming against the enemy in the name of the Lord, trusting that He will fight our battle.

It doesn't matter what your battle is. It doesn't matter, does it? Whatever the battle is, let God fight it. Can He fight the battle for you? Can He overcome it? Can He conquer it?

Turn everything else aside and put your faith in the name of the Lord, knowing that He is going to fight the battle.

The Victory

Knowing the battle is the Lord's, David is now going out in the courage and strength that he would need. "I don't know what the Lord's going to do when I get out there, but one thing I do know: This is His battle, and He's going to fight it for me. What He asks me to do, I'll do it."

David is prepared — prepared of the Lord. All of his preparation is spiritual. All of his preparation is in trusting the Lord, putting the Lord into the front of the battle, knowing the Lord will fight the battle. He had learned this previously in defeating the lion and the bear in the name of the Lord.

David had been defending his sheep, defending his little lambs. He had learned that God would help him in the defense of those little lambs. And twice God enabled him to take the lamb out of their mouths. There must be a big message in that statement. Would we go all out to defend one of our little lambs? How far would we go? What would we do? If it were one of ours, we would want to do all we could to rescue them.

Can God deliver? Yes, He can deliver. I see all these things that David is getting from God and is putting into practice. David has surely learned how to trust the Lord. He's surely learned that the battle was not his but was the Lord's. The battle against the lion was not his battle, neither was the battle against the bear. God helped him back then, and now he's going out to face a giant.

I Samuel 17:48
And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

This courage came from somewhere. The giant is marching toward David. One army is behind David, and the other is behind the giant on the hillsides. This giant is ready now to take on this boy. He thinks this is going to be done in a moment . . . Little does he know.

So, what did David do? He didn't run away from the giant. He hastened and ran to the giant. He knew down inside this was God's time, and he was going to do what God had put in him to do. God put in him to run — run right at him! If anybody's going to get scared, it's going to be the giant. It's the giant who's going to have something to worry about: "Who is this young man? He's bold enough to run right at me. Doesn't he know any better?"

We need to think about the battle: The battle is the Lord's. And David was acting like he knew the battle was the Lord's. It's so good to see this kind of a faith in action.

I Samuel 17:49
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

The giant was covered with armor from head to foot, but all David took to come against him with was one little stone. Who would ever think that a little stone would be a weapon in warfare?

I Samuel 17:50
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

He went out there without a sword. He went out with only that sling and those five stones . . . and the name of the Lord.

I Samuel 17:51
Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

He ran out there and jumped up on him! There he stands, victor over this big guy: "I come to you in the name of the Lord." He triumphed over that giant. That giant's bark was bigger than his bite. What barking from the giant: "This day I'm going to give your flesh to the birds." That's what you think!

Just one young person getting courageous, listening to the Lord. What someone can do in the name of the Lord!

Why would David take on something like this? It was God. It was God's anointing upon him. This was not David's battle. It was the Lord's battle. The Lord fought this battle. Do you think the Lord wasn't with him to sling that stone? He couldn't have missed. It was aimed right where it was needed to be aimed, and it came out with a force great enough to sink into the giant's head.

And what did the Philistines do? They showed their real fear: When they saw their champion was dead, they took off and fled, leaving everything behind. "If this young lad can bring down our champion, what can he do with the rest of us?" Little did they know how many battles there would be over the years with David as the king defeating them time after time.

Power in the Name of the Lord

I thank God there's power in the name of the Lord. We should learn a lesson from this. We have to learn to trust in the power of the Lord's name.

So, each one of us, in our walk with God, should learn to do what? to exercise our faith in the name of the Lord — in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus Christ the Son of the living God.

There are more ways than one you can say that mighty name, such as: "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth"; "in the name of Jesus Christ"; "in the name of the Lord"; "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God."

But we want to bear in mind how important it is that we exercise our faith in the name of the Lord. It's the whole story of the success of the power of God. We reach Him that way. It brings God into the circumstances.

So, is there a God who will be with you in trouble? What is His name? His name is Jesus: the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. In that name, through faith in that name, we can conquer, we can prevail, we can do the works of God, we can have revival, we can have the move of God in the church like we've never had before.

It's in that name, through faith in that name, that these things can be done. Let each one of us know that it's in the name of the Lord. We've got to learn this. We've got to take it out of our own hands, laying it before the Lord and letting Him do it.

We like to do it ourselves too many times. We try to do it ourselves, in our strength. But when it gets down to the power, the power is not of us. The power is of God. It's God's power that prevails.

Do we trust in His name? Now, I know a lot about that name. One of the greatest things I know about the name of Jesus is this: God gave unto Jesus a name that is above every name that is named:

Philippians 2:9-11
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.