Foundation: Thriving - Dr. Mike

Thriving begins with a genuine relationship with God through authentic, private prayer. True spiritual growth is not built on public recognition but on faithfully seeking God in private, trusting His timing, and persevering through life's challenges.

Transcript

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Welcome to Life Series, a podcast from King Garden Bay Baptist Church, where we gather together to experience God's love, grow in God's love, and give that love back to each other.

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Matthew chapter six. We're reading from verses five to eight for the New International Version of the Bible. Now we're gonna go back this series, we're gonna go back to where we were with the Beatitudes. But just for today, we're gonna talk about foundations for thriving. Bear with me, yes? Just for today. Then we're gonna jump back. We're gonna be on this Sermon on the Mount for a little while. So just bear with us. Yes? So if you've never read it before, you now know what the Sermon on the Mount is, because we're gonna talk about the context over and over. But Matthew chapter 6, verses 5 to 8. Now, anybody says that your preacher preaches too long, Jesus preached for three chapters, amen. You know there was a long, there's some amen, some hollow you's in between there. So when your pastor is preaching long, just go back and say, I'm not doing nothing different than Jesus. Y'all not having that joke. You're like, Pastor, the World Cup is on. We need to get out at a due time. New International Version of the Bible, Matthew chapter 6, verses 5 to 8. And it says, And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen. Can I stop there for a second? I want you to use this scripture for when anyone is telling you to don't come to church because of hypocrites, tell them, even in the synagogue, they were the hypocrites, they always gonna be with us, so it's best you get accustomed to them. Anyway, don't use it as an excuse because Jesus still went to church with the hypocrites. And when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray, stand in the synagogues and on the street corners, and to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their full reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close your door, and pray to your father who is unseen. Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not be babbling like the pagans, for they will think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. This morning we will be sharing semanically on the subject of foundation thriving. Lord, we pray that right now that you'll hide me behind your old rugged cross. Allow this message to go forward with the fervor, strength, and honor that needs to be done. I pray, Lord, that the people who are listening and for those who are gathered with us online or in the sanctuary, that you'll give them what they need to be delivered, set free. In your name we pray. Amen. You may be seated no matter where you are. We've been now talking about the Sermon on the Mount for a little while now. This is this is our fourth message uh from this Sermon on the Mount and this scripture. Matthew chapter 6 now goes into the second chapter. And I want you now not to be like this is again, not let be like this is a show, but to be involved. Uh, if we want to be able to get out of here, I need you uh to feedback. I need you to make sure that I'm not talking to someone or no one invisible, like that you're there. Let me know that you're there. I I don't know that they're they're football fans in here. Yeah? Anybody to watch football, soccer? Anyone? Yeah, yeah, there's anyone. And and um I want you to know that there is still a God because uh there were some three people who were praying uh against that match for uh against Argentina and Cape Verde. Yeah, they were praying uh because when that goal went in in overtime, uh I saw a lot of people to their knees, literally praying to a God in the middle of a soccer game. Now we're in the middle of church, and if you can't make some noise for the God who saved your life, the God who's there, who makes you celebrate, we're in the wrong place. So I'm just priming you. Like this ain't no message for you to just be sitting there, oh pastor seems to be intellectual and it seems to be good. We're serving a real God. So if they could get excited by the game, and I have no problems with that, we could get excited by a real God. Now, this Sermon on the Mount now comes where Jesus is now at this point in his life, in his ministry. This is shown to be the most pivotal sermon of his career, of his ministry, of his life. It says he now stops at Matthew chapter 5 and he comes to the sermon on the mount. The scripture says Jesus now comes to the sermon on the mount and he sits down before he starts preaching. It means that he wanted to get close and show that he was not above anyone, he was there with the people. Jesus was now preaching, not to the rich and not to the elite, he was preaching to the broken, the widows, the people who had lost everything. And it said that he started off this sermon knowing who he was preaching to. He said, Blessed are the poor in spirit. He was not speaking to those that had it all together. It said that the gospel was created for those whose backs are against the wall, those who are suffering, those who know pain. That this gospel was designed for people who have a difficult time in life, those who know what it is to cry in a midnight hour, those who know what it means to have their backs against the wall. As we talk about this world now, we look around the world, there's so many things that are happening that nations all over the world are suffering, and people near and far are going through hard times. We may not be there physically, but think about it. Just a couple hundred miles from us in Venezuela, there are people where thousands of people are hurting. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they surely need to be comforted. We look at our neighbors in Cuba who've now gone almost three months without oil or water or light, and most of the people in intensive care have passed away. Blessed are the poor in spirit. And we look at those who mourn all over the world for friends and family. Jesus is talking to those who are going through some stuff. Now, this message is not for people who have it all together. If you have it all together, I'm sorry. Come back next week. Uh, but this message for those who who don't have it all together. And now you might be bold. I know in the Caribbean we like to keep our pride and keep everything to us, but is anybody in here bold enough to say, I don't really have it all together? Uh that that Monday I might be doing good, but by by Monday afternoon, Tuesday, I'm suffering. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't have it all together. It's that that some Jesus is speaking to you. That sometimes you feel poor in spirit, and sometimes you mourn. This message is for those who are disinherited, this message for those who suffer, this message for those who go through stuff, that life is not always a bed of roses. Sometimes you feel like the bed is filled with thorns, and you're wondering why your roof is leaking, and you're wondering where is help gonna come from. This message is for you. Jesus now goes and tells them at the end of this sermon, he says, No matter what you do, listen to these words, because you will be as the man who built his house on stone. That's the wise man. But if you don't listen to this, it will be like the man who built his house on sand, and the winds and the winds and the storms of life are going to come and they're gonna challenge your life. Jesus ended this sermon with that saying, if you go through all this, I preach all this and you don't listen, it's just like going outside and building your hand, your house on the sand. And you're wondering, well, well, why did you do? Don't you know any better? Think about it. Jesus is preaching all this stuff, and we'll leave and go out and still not listen and still worry and still have no faith. But God is saying this message is for those who are suffering. Now, you might be wondering, well, Pastor, how does this go together? How does foundation and thriving and suffering and prayer go together? I'm so happy you asked. You seem like a bright crowd. I'm so I'm so happy you asked. Uh, because he talks about prayer now. And this is your foundation for thriving. Uh, when you're building a foundation, if you can't pray, uh, then there's gonna be something that's gonna happen when the winds and the waves of life come your way. I know now in this modern society where we have all these technological advances and we're able to do so many things so quickly that being able to stop and pray seems countercultural. It doesn't seem popular, it doesn't seem to make any sense. You're like, why do I have to pray? And I could just ask Chat GPT or Claude, they'll give me the answer, uh, they'll help me out. Uh, why do I need all this? I have a problem or situation. Ask Google, they they will help me. I don't worry, I don't need to pre-read the Bible. I could just type it in and I could get the answer. I don't need God in my life. So, Pastor, you're coming here now in 2026 to talk to me about prayer, about telling me I need to stop and and and be able to pray to a God that I don't even see, that I don't get that that sometimes has to be going through all this. I know this stuff used to work for my grandmother and my mom, but right now you have to understand I have a degree. I'm educated. Don't you see the letters behind my name? Don't you see the car I drive? Don't you see the house I have? Don't you see my linens? Don't you see how good I look? And so now prayer seems to be so boring and carticulal to the point that most of you pray but don't even remember where you stopped. And this is not to shame anybody. When I was younger, I had a difficult time. I used to pray in my bed, amen. I used to pray in my bed. I'm not kneeling, I used to pray in my bed because I was always trying to find the most efficient way to go to sleep. Uh so I was like, if I pray, most of the times I just remember I was just praying, and and I I got out like three words, and then I woke up. Y'all stop judging me. Ain't none of y'all never went to bed and prayed, and y'all fall asleep and then wake up and said, Amen. I'm gonna talk. This, this, y'all seem like y'all real. Y'all, all these other people too holy. Y'all know. God knows your heart. But some of us are not even praying at all. And so we think we're building these foundations to thrive. But I'm gonna tell you, young people, if you want to be able to thrive, you gotta learn how to pray. Now, sometimes people think that this whole prayer and praying becomes this magnificent thing, and Jesus himself paused to say, don't be like the hypocrites who want to pray with all their fancy words on the corner so everybody can see them. He says, No, no, no, that that that's that's that's not what I'm talking about. Prayer is not this whole show, prayer is about a relationship of authentically presenting your heart and humbling yourself before God who you know is able to do exceedingly above all you could ever ask, hope, or think. Now, we pray, but a lot of times we don't know why we do what we do when we're praying. So because we don't understand it, we don't understand the significance of it. Now, when you think about it, it's a couple of things that you do when you pray. You know, don't worry, you're gonna be out before we're a couple of things that you do when you pray. Uh, the the first thing you do is your bended knees. Look at your neighbor. Most of the times in the Bible, the first thing is this are on bended knees. Look at your neighbor says, Bend your knees. Now, sometimes you might not always be able to bend your knees and pray, but when you can, you need to bend your knees and pray. Now, you might be saying, Dr. Mike, why is that? Well, it's biblical. Ephesians 3 14 says, For this reason I bow my knees before the Father. And it says that Daniel prayed and bowed his knees three times per day. Now you have to know that Luke says Jesus knelt in Gethsemane. And you also understand that this is something that Acts 20 and 26 says, Paul knelt before. Kneeling before. It's about the humble supplication and submission, it's about kneeling before God. Now, the next thing is that you have to understand the clasping of the hands. Now, the clasping of the hands is something that we do, but it's not biblical. I know. All the Bible scholars come back and kiss. Let's go. We can have it after church. Tell me where in the Bible talks about clasping of the hands. There's nothing that says you clasp your hands. You see, I wish I had this Bible knowledge when I was in school because I used to challenge my teachers all the time. My teachers used to say, clasp your hands and close your eyes. And I used to be like, Why? Why? Why I got clasp my hands? Because then at this point, then I used to get pinched because I just used to ask, why do I have to clasp my hands? I could pray. And now I wish I had this theological knowledge that I had then, 30 something years later. The clasp of the hands really didn't come from the Bible. It's nowhere in the Bible. In actuality, the clasp of the hands started around the 12th and 13th century when people were being knighted before the king. So when they were receiving the vassal, a vassal or honor, they will put their hands before the king and use it like this. So now the Christianity spread throughout the European countries, not now popularize the clasp of the hands. However, the Bible doesn't talk about clasp of the hands, the Bible talks about the raising of your open hand toward heaven. That's why you see people pray like this and people pray like this with the open hand. Now, we also go now to the closing of the eyes. Now, if you think about it, this sounds you this sounds biblical, right? Anyone? You're not in trouble. This sounds biblical. Find in the Bible for me. Uh the closing of the eyes. Now I understand the closing of eyes is help you to rule out distraction, but it's not really there because in the Bible it says, I lift up my eyes onto the hills. You can't lift up your eyes onto the hills and they close. So when y'all go back to school, tell the teacher, my pastor said that the class of the hands and the closing eyes is not theologically biblical. Actually, it was came from a European centric uh tradition of receiving a vassal. Now, I will do it to some and be shown that I'm authentically humiliated and show that I'm humble. However, I'm a little bit concerned about these practices that are being passed down with generation with generation without biblical meaning. If you forget that, just tell them call me. Amen. But what I'm saying is these things that we do are not, but the lifting of, so here's the two things: the bending of the knees, the lifting of the hands, and the upward looking to God for help. So this means to say, however you choose to pray, however, you do that, and it allows you to get in a position where you're submitting yourself to God, that's all that matters. Because that means that prayer doesn't need to be relegated to church. Some of you who only pray when you come to church, you're not gonna be able to thrive. Sorry if I offended you. Amen. It matters what you do in the thriving. Before I keep you too long. Here's what this scripture tells us in terms of the foundation of thriving. Yes, you have to pray, but it has some seeds in here. It says, Don't worry about those who pray and use big words. The first thing, if you want to thrive in life, look at your neighbor. Say, if you want to thrive in life, stop comparing yourself to others. Look at your neighbor says, stop comparing yourself to others. This is in the Bible. He says, Don't worry about the other people and what they're doing on their street corners. Worry about yourself. If you want to have a good foundation, if you want to thrive in life, stop worrying about other people. Now I know that's a little bit hard and seems counter-cultural because, boy, in the Caribbean, we have something, we have something that we do. What we do is mind other people business. Amen. There's some people that don't have no master's in arts, they don't have no PhD in science, uh, but they have a doctorate in minding people business. They they they wake up, they go to sleep. Not the people here, uh, not you guys, the rest of them in here. They mind people business, like like they go, and then you start getting to the point that you're just comparing your life to everybody else. Some of you right now can't see the blessing in your life because you're wondering what God has done for somebody else and not concentrating on what God is doing in your life. You're missing your blessing because of comparison, and then you're questioning, God, I'm praying to you, but why does somebody else seem to be getting blessed? And God is saying, But I'm blessing you right now, it's just being blessed in a different way. Well, God, I'm praying for you for this business, for my family, for my spouse. But what is happening in my life? And God says, I'm working on it, but I'm putting some other things in place because if I give you this first, it will cast away everything else. Some of you are missing your blessings. I I want to tell you, stop comparing yourself to other people. You have to understand, you don't know what somebody else is going through to get what they get. You don't know how much sleepless nights what they're going through. You don't know the pain and suffering. Stop comparing yourself. You don't know the pain that somebody has to go through to get their blessing or to maintain their blessing. Instead of hating on somebody else, you should be able to pray for somebody else. And you don't need to stop comparing yourself to somebody. I remember, I remember I was in therapy. I was remember, I was in therapy, and and and and and and I I was there, and and you have to understand I was a psychologist at this point, and I went to this doctor and I was like, I'm gonna be good. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna cry. I know what they're gonna ask. I've seen this movie before. I sat down on this lady's couch, and she said maybe three words to me. Ladies and gentlemen, I cried for maybe 20 minutes. Unconsolably. And here's something that she said. I was watching other pastors and people like putting out books and doing all this stuff and thriving at this point, at this point, I wasn't nobody's pastor, nobody's church, nobody's nothing. And she says, Why are you comparing yourself to them? Maybe that they have their books and their stuff now because it's their time, but maybe your time is coming. Here's what happens to us we give up comparing ourselves because we can't wait for our time to come. Some of us need to know that God is working on us still, that the things that we're praying for are gonna take a little bit more time. You don't want to rush your blessing because if you get it too soon, you can mess it up. Stop comparing yourself to somebody else, saying, Well, I don't have what they have. You have everything that everybody else has access to, which is God. You get the same 24 hours of the day, the seven days of the week, the same 30 or 31 days of the month. You have all that it matters and all that it takes. Stop comparing yourself to other people. The best stories in the world come from people who believe in God and believe in what God can do through them. Don't worry that you don't look like everybody else. Don't worry that you don't talk like everybody else. Don't worry that you don't see life the same way as everybody else. That makes you unique, and you're the type of people that God wants. The outsiders, the black sheeps, the people who are called last. You see, you're the special, you're the person that the build, you're the stone at the build, the refuse, you're the one that always seemed to get it wrong. You're the one that's never called first. You are the one that's gonna make the difference. So stop comparing yourself and look in. Look at your neighbor say, focus on yourself. But the second thing about thriving, I'm sorry, I wish I could just keep it happy. And thriving, look at your neighbor and say, You gotta put in the work. Look at somebody else. They don't like this part, you gotta put in the work. See, here's what Jesus now says He says, Now don't be like the people who are praying in the corner. Go in in your room and close the door and pray to the God who you can see, and the God that sees what you've done in private will reward you in public. Let me break it down for the people who didn't get it. The God says the people, the things that you do in private, the work that you put in in private will be rewarded in public. Because you're exercising faith in private, you're praying in private, you're being wise in private, and don't worry about who doesn't see it. The God who sees everything is seeing you working, putting the work. Now, people might say, Well, you don't seem to be doing much, putting your work in private. Some of you are wanting to put the things out too soon. God is saying, Don't worry about everybody else, put in the work in private. Now that's a problem. You want to be celebrated, and God wants to create and nurture something with you in private first. But you don't want to put in the work. We don't want to put in the work. You're not now everybody, everybody, just again. Everybody now has got caught off guard with summer again. Everybody who's wanting to be in shape. You got caught off guard. One more summer again. You just caught wow, it's August to see your pastor mered this. Look at this. It's it's August all over again. You're like, wow, we're gonna save that bikini and that we're gonna go, we're not going to the beach this summer. You've been putting in work, but it's been Nutella, and ice cream, and cheese, and butter, and chocolate cake, and fried chicken, and fries. You've been putting in the work in private, and guess what? Here you are in public. But imagine you putting in the work that matters. Imagine when you close your door and you say, God, I want to build my life on a foundation that allows me to thrive. And God is saying, I want you to start with prayer. Everybody wants to thrive, but you don't want to pray. I know this is not this is not these popular scriptures that you that you turn around three times and God is gonna bless you with a new car. No, it says, I want you to put in the work in private. So for those of you who only pray in public, that's not the work. That's a display, that's a performance. God is concerned about what you do behind closed doors, and you have to understand prayer activates stuff. It is a weapon that allows you to sift through the difficulties of life. You might be saying, Well, Dr. Mike, I don't have all the fancy words. Sometimes your prayer just needs to be, God, I need your help. God, I don't know about this situation. I need you to fix it. You know, sometimes when I'm going through sometimes like God, I don't I don't know if I like this too much. I like you, but I don't like this situation. But I'm gonna trust you to get me through it. Sometimes we need to be able to be authentic with God. And I maybe that's a reason that God wants you first to pray with Him in private. Because He knows your mess and He's okay with it. But if you want to bring some of that stuff out in public, you will lose some friends. Think about it. If some of your friends know about the stuff that you're praying about, how much more friends would you have? They'll be like, boy, not in this church. You imagine that if you were really able to be honest in your prayer circle, in your prayer group, and you were able to tell somebody what you're really praying about, what you're really concerned about, and then you have to realize, like, boy, those people down there, they're praying about that stuff. God can't be with them. No, God wants you to be authentic, so God wants you to pour your true self privately to him first, so he can work on those things. It's not to keep it a secret, but sometimes there are things that God needs to impart with you that he doesn't need to share with nobody else. Or your neighbor say you got to put in the work in private. That you have to understand the private work is what's important. The private prayer, the private devotion has a place in your life, but you have to make it a habit. You got to put in work. You have to understand now, as I was watching uh the 100 meter race on yesterday, I was watching the 100 meter race on yesterday, and I'm I'm so deliciously proud. If you're not if you're not aware, uh we have we have a young lady, the age of 20. Her name is Adeja Hash, age of 28. Whoa, whoa, all right. Uh Adeja Hash, age of 20, and she just ran her first professional race at the Pre-fontaine classic. Uh, she was going against the likes of Shekaria Richardson, uh, a whole bunch of other stars and superstars. Uh I'm sorry, uh, I'm sorry, uh, but I was biased. Amen. Uh, the race ended with 0.82, 0.80, and 0.881. Uh there was two hundredths of a second. And now you look, I was going through, I was watching, uh, this is rather interesting. Uh imagine a little girl from a small island with less than 20-something thousand square people, uh, 30,000 people give or take, 24,000, 24 square miles, uh run against people of these big nations and great stage. I just was before I came down here, I was watching an interview. And what I liked about the interview, she came to the interview uh with a brother, a brother, a very Caribbean brother from Jamaica. And she says, before she sat down, she says, I'm gonna be my authentic self. She says, No Yankee accent, and she sat down, she said, Yeah. No, you can go and watch it. I shared it on my Facebook page. She says, Yeah. You know, I've been here, I've been putting in a walk privately all these years, and I just come on, I were ready, I belong. Alright. What she said was because I saw some people looking at my face like y'all were looking at me like, Dr. Mike, that is not this is this is not the Queen's or the King's English. And she said, I've been putting in work. She's been running since she was four years old. There's a picture of her running at the Caribbean Fiesta almost 17 years ago, 16 years ago, and she was running with all her might. Now we saw her run yesterday. Millions of people all over the world stop for a moment for 10 seconds or more to watch her run on a national stage, and we all clap. But guess the thing that most people don't realize she practices every single day. Most of the times, nobody shows up at her practice with a camera crew. There's no people chairing, there's no big audience, there's no big celebration. She has to do it over and over and over and over again, just so she can perform in public for 10 seconds. See, you have to understand the work that you put in the private is gonna outweigh what you have to do in public. But some of you just want to force the public and don't want to work on the private. I want to tell you, if you want to thrive, find where God wants you in your heart. You gotta put in the work. That private discipline, that private sacrifice, the faith in the unseen, you have to put in your own work, you have to create an own space to discover yourself. I want to be able to tell you something. What I've been able to do in all this thriving and foundation and things of the world that when you go through life, and when you go through life and life seems a little bit hard and life gets a little bit tough, I want you to know that prayer still works. I I I wanted to have something a little bit more elegant and official tell you. Uh, but I went back and forth about changing this last point. And I said, Well, God, I thought prayer aligns. And he says, Dr. Mike, yes, prayer does align, it aligns your will to the will of God so you could be in one accord. Prayer allows you to let you know where God wants you. I said, Well, I thought I wanted to make the last point. I wanted to be that prayer protects. He was like, Well, Dr. Mike, prayer does protect. Uh, what it does is that when you're able to pray, your enemies are warded off. And when you pray certain prayers, that God will put a hedge of protection around you, that God will go before you and beneath behind you. Uh, that guy I said, Dr. Mike, I wanted a pastor, I wanted to be able to make this last sermon that prayer delivers. Uh, that you I want people to know that sometimes you're going through some difficulty and God is able to deliver you in the midst of a prayer. I wanted to be able to say, Dr. Mike and the people here, I wanted to be able to say at the last point, should it be that prayer draws you closer? Uh, because sometimes when you feel far away from God, uh, the best way and the best thing to do is to get closer through prayer. I want to be able to be able to say that prayer sets you free because sometimes when you're going through difficulties, you have to remember that prayer sets you free. You have to understand, I want to let you know that prayer lifts your spirit, that sometimes when you're going through some difficult times and you can get a word out to God that it will be able to lift your spirit. I want to also want to let you know, I want to be the last point to be that prayer gives you some direction. Sometimes you're going through life, you don't know whether to go left or right. You don't need to go up or down. I'll let you know that prayer gives you direction. Anyone ever been lost before and you needed to ask for directions? Uh that sometimes prayer is that one that you're able to give directions. I want you to know that prayer heals. I wanted to let you know that no matter what you're going through, no matter how much pain that you have, prayer heals. There's some people in here. I want you to know that not only prayer heals your physical body, but prayer also deals and heals your psychological mind. That's somebody in here thinking that the miracles that are exist in life, the miracles that happen in our world, are just the miracles from our Bible that we don't believe that this is able to align with us now. But I wanted to let you know, I stop by and say all that to let you know that prayer works. There's some people in here that you need to understand that in spite of what you go through, in spite how difficult it may seem, prayer still works. Now I want to be able to pause for a second. I want to be able to pause for a second and be able to tell you why prayer works. They're not just my words, but you have to go through the ontology and the chronology of the Bible, the things that have been listed over time and periods of time, from generations to generations. That sometimes you have to understand the simple crying out to God allows you to be able to help in your time of need. If you want to be able to thrive, you have to have a foundation of prayer. Being able to have a consistent relationship with the God who's able to exceed and above all you can ever ask, hope, or think. You don't want to have a relationship with God when you only pray when you're in trouble. I know God doesn't have a sense of humor like me, uh, but I couldn't be God. Uh because if some of you come to me praying, I'd be like, oh, oh, oh now, oh now you oh now oh now you praying. Oh now you're praying. Really, really. I saw you all day long doing what you do in that mess. You ain't talked to me all day. But now you're in the in the fair punch of circumstance, now you know my name. Uh, that some people ain't prayed since Irma. And now, because that hurricane, you were there praying, Lord, save me. And you ain't prayed in seven years. Some people were praying every day when their bank account was funny and the money was strained, and you said, God, I just need you to make it to the next day. But now your bank account got full. You forgot to pray. Some of you were praying for a spouse or a child. Now you got your spouse and 50-11 children, and now you don't even pray to God for a blessing. Some of you used to pray for God for a car, and now you're there driving your old little second-hand car with no rims and no tires on it. It is dirty and scratched up, but you're not even picking time to say, God, I thank you. Some of you in here are saying, God, I just want an opportunity to own a home. And God not only blessed you with a home, he blessed you with land. And now you're complaining and wondering where God, because God can't even get the first blessing in your house. You move into your house, you move into your apartment, you drive your car, you don't even pray over it because guess what? That prayer didn't really help you. Uh, you thinking you got it on your own? And some of you are now living your life. I'm healthy, I'm happy, I'm doing all good. All I need to do is my little meditation in my mind space. I don't need to pray. This is all this mumbo jumbo stuff. These old people don't know. Why do I need to clasp my hands and close my eyes? Why do I need to bend my knee and ask God for help? I'm able to do all this in my own intellect. I got Chat GPT. And I want to remind you that prayer still works. No matter what you're going through, I want to remind you that prayer still works. Now, this is not my words, but I wanted to be able to tell you that no matter where you go in life, no matter how hard things are, prayer still works. No matter how smart you go, whether you're leaving from primary school to high school, from high school to college, from college to the working world, prayer still works. There's some times that you have to understand you're gonna be going through life and you're gonna hit some roadblocks and you're gonna hit some challenges, but prayer still works. I've never told this story publicly, uh, but now is a time to let you know that prayer still works. Uh now, yes, you know, in my professional life, I play a doctor on TV. Monday through Friday, I play a psychologist. Amen. And you have to understand, all through my tutelage, I had never been. You could ask my mom, I've always been on the honor roll. I've always gotten good grades. That was never a problem. Yes, I'm smart. I'm a big deal. I was smart and I didn't even really have to study. I didn't even really study until I got to college. And I was just getting grades, and I mean, up until my doctorate, I didn't really study. You could ask my wife. Uh, she was in class with me in Hebrew. She was studying Hebrew, I was studying her, amen. And I was just at that point, just making sure, see, y'all, I just making sure y'all are listening. Uh and and and then at that point, I didn't, she was wondering, and then she'll come to the test, she will get an A, I'll get an A minus. She's like, you didn't even listen to what I said, I just smart like that. Don't worry about me. But I was putting in the work in private. Ah, here's this other thing. And then I graduated one master's, and then I started my doctorate program. I started my doctorate program and I realized uh that this was a little bit more tricky, uh, this was a little bit harder. I remember now one teacher pulled me on the side. She says, I can tell you're smart. I could tell that you are brilliant. However, I could also tell that when you go home at night, you're not putting in the work in private. I said, Who done snitched on me? Did my wife write a letter to the school to let them know I'm not studying like I need to? But I continued school and then I failed my first exam. I was like, what is this? What manner of letter is this on this paper? I went to the teacher with a protest, knowing I didn't study for the test, but feeling entitled because this is what I normally did. She says, You get one more opportunity. I will tell you, for the five years of that program, from that point, I studied in private because the public failure was not good. Fast forward now, I graduate. I'm now now at this point now, I'm a doctor at 28 years old. I'm doing good. I'm like, yeah, look at me. And then they have this thing called the board exam. Uh, the board exam is called the E triple P. The E triple P is this exam that you take from Canada to South America, and it allows you to practice psychology from North America to South America and the entire Caribbean. Uh, they said that this test that 60% of the people that take this test fail. I was like, well, count me in the 40%. Now, see, I forgot what the teacher told me about the private work. I was like, I'm a doctor, I'm gonna take their little test and be on my way. I wasn't studying like I need to, I wasn't doing the things like I need to, and then then you know, I then went into this test. I I went into that test in that room and it was serious. They patted you down, they put you in a little cubicle, they gave you a pencil and tell you don't move, leave, or answer the phone for two and a half hours. Ladies and gentlemen, when the first half an hour passed, I was like, This is not gonna be good. Uh, when the next hour passed, I was like, Well, I'm gonna make it through. And then when two hours passed, I thought, well, it's gonna be fine. Now the grades take 45 days to get to you. They take 45 days to grade the exam. Now, at the point you have to understand, uh, I'm sorry, uh, we didn't have no internet to mail us. What they did is that they put the mail in a box and they delivered it by hand. Uh, I would tell you, I can't remember. I tell you, I remember that exact night in our apartment on 3107 Cherry Road, Northeast Washington, D.C. When this letter and mail came. And I opened it and it felt like a brick. And I opened it and I read it. I didn't see the magic words. It didn't start off with congratulations. It says, I'm sorry to I went and checked the name. I was like, there is no way that this could be addressed to thee, Michael Turnbull. Uh, I'm sure they must have mistaken. So I said, I'm awake. Uh and then you have to understand what happened is let me be authentic and true. I called my wife at that moment. I said, I failed. And at that moment, I started to cry. And I said, I've never failed so publicly ever in my life. The next day you have to understand, I have to pick myself up and go back to the clinic that now I'm the clinical director of all the other people who have passed their exams. I'm thinking the CEO's not gonna tell me you can't be here no more, you need to go. They says, No, you get another chance. And I said, This time, because I get another chance, I'm gonna do it right. So this time, here's what happened. It started the next day. The next day, me and my counterpart who also failed, we said we're gonna buy a training program. It was around maybe $1,500 or $2,000. You gotta remember, that's a lot of money. That is a lot of money for a doctor who ain't working. And we studied every single day. Every single day. Now, nobody was there with us. We studied whether we had a crowd or whether a group was there. We put in the work in private. But here's something that I learned. My testing program says every night before you go to sleep, you need to write down what you imagine happening in the test. I was like, well, this test person is not even scriptural, and they don't even are a priest or pastor. They're saying you need to write down and meditate what it is that you want to see. And I was like, why did it take for a test-taking program for people who are not even saved to tell me before you go to sleep, you need to write down what you want to see and meditate on it. Well, I was like this. I was like, well, God, thank you. But I'm sorry that I missed this whole thing. Because all along you put a big battle in front of me and you made me fail in public so I could go back in private and put in the work. But it's not just about putting in the work and studying. You told me to write down, so you're telling me to write down and proclaim and make it plain about what I want. And then you're telling me to meditate on it. Well, I don't know how to do anything else. But when I close my eyes and I clasp my hands and I start to think that I'm meditating, I know that it's time for me to start praying. So I want somebody to know that no matter what's going on in your life, that when difficulty happens, when trouble happens, I want you to be able to pray. Now, now I want you to bear with me. Here's what happens. I went back into that exam. First time I went, I was just ready. I didn't do nothing. I walked in. Before I walked into the exam room, I stood at the door. I stood at the door of that exam room. I said, Lord, let your will be done. As I'm walking, listening to instruction, I said, God, this is for me. I believe everything that you've said about me. My mom used to tell me that I'll be the head and not the tail above everyone. And not beneath me, that I'll be the lender and I'm about to be a bar. I believe that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I started to say, God, I might, you have not given me a spirit of fear, but a power and a sound mind. I declare that everything that comes before me, that I will be the head and not the tail, I will be able to proclaim. And now at the moment, I sat down, people were watching me, and I was rocking in my seat, and I was like praying and saying, Lord, you will help me through the difficult times. You will make my way clear. You will help and sustain me. I wasn't trying to remember my last exam. I wasn't trying to remember any problems. What I was was concentrating on the God that was able to see me through. Ladies and gentlemen, I went through that whole exam. And then I still had to wait 45 days for the result. Can I tell you? I couldn't wait 45 days. After the 30th day, I started calling the Maryland Board of Psychology. I became friendly with my good friend the secretary. I said, Miss Secretary, I've been praying about something and I need an answer. She says, Well, the rules say I can't tell you what the answer is. I can't tell you if you passed or not. I said, Well, I'm gonna call back the next day. I went back the next day. I said, How you doing? She said, I'm doing fine, Mike. I said, Well, she's called me Mike, so we're on the same page. We friends now. She said, I still can't tell you, but your mail, the thing was mailed out. She said, it should be in there two or three days. I waited the two or three days and nothing happened. She says, Don't worry, it'll be there. I called back. I said, It's been two or three days. I ain't seen nothing yet. She says, just wait a little bit longer. I know you're worried. I know you're praying, but it's gonna be alright. I said, wait a minute. In the middle of my prayer, she said, it's gonna be alright. She didn't say I passed. She didn't say I failed. She said it's gonna be alright. Sometimes in your prayer, you may not get the answer you're looking for. But God is saying to you, it's gonna be alright. And so now, when I got to that point of knowing what it said, it's gonna be alright. Every day I started waiting on the mail. I was like, she said it's gonna be alright. So now I'm praying with a hopeful anticipation that it's gonna be alright. And then here's what happened: a quietness came in my spirit. It says, whether I passed or whether I fell, it's gonna be alright. Because I started to remember my hope is built on nothing else but Jesus' blood and righteousness. That no matter what happens in my life, it's gonna be alright. Whether I'm up, whether I'm down, it's gonna be alright. Whether I'm healthy or whether I'm sick, it's gonna be alright. Whether you have money or not, it's gonna be alright. And then what happens? What happened was the mail didn't come. Everybody else, my classmate who I was studying with, I called her. She got her result, and it's like don't compare yourself to others. You know you put in the work in private. The public celebration is coming. But I feel a little bit something. I want to be patient away on you, but why everybody else getting their blessing? And I get my blessing. So now I went back to my office. I'm sitting at my desk. Everybody asking me, Did you get your result yet? I said, No, I ain't getting it. I said they're all my doctors, everybody's walking by me. And I said, Have you got a result? I said, No, they gave me nothing yet. I said, You know what? Maybe something happened to the mail. Let me call one more time. Call back one more time. She said, She says, Hey, Mike. I said, Seems like you have my number safe. She says, Well, you call so much, I got accustomed to your number. I says, Listen, my friends just got their mail and they passed. And I'm not trying to be pushy. But I've been praying, and you have to understand, I failed before. And I know you said it's gonna be alright. She said, Dr. Mike, I told you it's gonna be alright. But see, I don't, she said, I don't usually do this. I don't usually do this because I don't believe in breaking the rules. But there's something telling me to tell you what the result is. I said, God, do your work. And she was like, you don't, she says, congratulations, Dr. Mike, the newest licensed clinical psychologist in the state of Maryland. I said, God, if you were to reward me in public, I am gonna testify in public. And so what I did, I didn't go out and tell nobody what had happened. I took my phone. If you can go back to 2012 in my Facebook page, I went back and I sat on my desk and I put my camera in front of me and I said this. This is my prayer to you. I just got the results that I passed my exam. But this now was set up for me to tell you this prayer. You're gonna fail at life. Sometimes you're gonna be broken, and sometimes you're gonna be hit hard. But God did this to through me to tell you don't you ever give up on your dreams, don't you ever give up on your hope. And here's what God told me in the midst of my prayer. You gotta put in that work, you gotta be able to trust God that sometimes other people may go ahead of you, but God hasn't forgotten about you. And it was then said at that moment, I said, listen, when you feel like giving up, you can study all you want, you can get them up trends and what you want. Well, this is what I did. I went back to that old school religion. And when I was trying, and later tonight, when I felt like giving up, I said, God, I need your help. I can't figure it out, I don't understand it, but help me, God. Sometimes my prayer, well, God, I can't do it, but I know you can. It says, now you have to remember now, encourage yourself in prayer. You have to be able to say, God, through you, I can do all things that I'm the head and not the tail. But now, remember when we says that the scripture doesn't talk about closing your eyes or clasping your hands, it's really about lifting your hands, and that's when I said, know when I was in the middle of my pain, in the middle of giving up, I said, Father, I stretch my hands to you. No other help I know. No matter what you go through, no matter how difficult it gets, we serve a God that's still on the throne. A God that draws near to the brokenhearted, a God that gives peace and comfort and blesses those that Lord. So no matter where you are, if you want to thrive, pray. That's all it's sad. Not to keep you too long, no matter what's going on. This moment, if you know that you want God's anointing in your life, and your prayer is not only to have a more dedicated prayer life, a more dedicated devotional life, and you say, God, I need to be more disciplined in my devotion towards you. If you're that one, no matter where you are, just raise your hand. It's not a point of shame, because all of us can do better to get closer to God. So, God, now we pray for those whose hands are lifted all over the church. That the hand is a sign of surrender, the hand is a sign of showing that you're able and they're submitting themselves to you. So, God, we fall with our hearts prostrate and laid prostrate before you. Saying, God, we trust you to do all things. So, God, we acknowledge you as Lord of our life. So, God, we ask you to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, forgive us of our sins. Pray, Lord, you know what we need before we ask it, but we are praying to align our hearts with yours. So give us a heart like yours that will seek after you. God, now we pray for the renewing of our strength, renewing of our mind, renewing of our heart to allow us to be what you called us to be. Heal us, set us free, deliver us. Now, God, for those who are hurting, who are on the verge of losing hope, I pray, Lord, now that you will renew with them the strength, renew within them power, renew within them peace. But give them the fervor to know that they can do all things. All things. So, God, we pray this prayer to you with expectation that your glory will descend upon us in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. All those who believe, say amen. All those who believe say amen. Before we leave, I know it's summer, but we have an opportunity right after church in the back, what we call our open house. Why don't you take five or ten minutes? Our ministry teams and our teams that you could volunteer and serve on by letting you know what's going on. Now, you could do all the one, but if we don't have people to put in the work to let people know that Jesus loves them, I don't care if this is your first time here, you're welcome to work because this is not our church, this is God's church, and you are the person we've been waiting on. So you too can be a part of this church. Succumb prayerfully, asking God, God, I want to serve, show me where. Because we can't want the harvest and not put in the work. The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are what? Let's join the few so we can become many. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 56:10

Thank you for worshiping with us today. If you'd like to go deeper in your walk with Christ, we invite you to contact us at 284-442-4222. Or email us admin at cgbbc.org. Visit our website at cgbbc.org. Be sure to subscribe and share this podcast so others can be encouraged and blessed as well.