You see, when God gives you a promise, more than anything else it’s a promise that things are going to change. But listen to this. Not only does God want things to change that are around you, but God gives you a promise that you might change. God is not giving us promises so that we can leap and just shout and say, “Lord, I thank You.” But God is giving us promises that Jesus Christ could be formed in us.

Because whenever God tells you something, before it comes to pass, there is going to be some type of supernatural change that’s going to take place in your character. There is going to be a supernatural manifestation, a transformation in something about you.

In fact, He will allow just enough time to pass before that promise is fulfilled (glory to God) to seriously challenge what most of us know about God. He will allow a certain amount of time to elapse between that promise coming to pass and when He first gave it to you, so that the preconceived notions that we have about Him and who He is and how He’s going to work it out can all dissipate in our minds, so that He can become God in our lives. Amen, somebody.

In the book of Genesis chapter fifteen, here we have Abram. Glory to God. And in verse one through verse four, it said:

1. After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

2. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

3. And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

4. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

Glory to God. God was speaking to him at a time in his life (glory to God) when everything in the natural said no to what God was speaking over his life. And what I’m experiencing with the people of God in the body of Christ, a lot of times God will give you a word at a particular time in your life, that what God says to you doesn’t make any kind of sense, because there’s no way in the natural in this God’s given earth that this thing could be so. But that’s how God is going to move past our natural comprehension of things and move us out of the natural realm into the spiritual realm.

Because God began to say to me . . . The Bible says that we walk by faith and not by sight. But we have a sight problem in the body of Christ, because nobody wants to step over into the Spirit and see what God is up to.

He spoke to Abram at a time in his life (glory to God) that the words that God spoke would have to be Him that would bring them to pass. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve reached a time in my life that conditions are not just the way I desire them to be. But when all the words that God has given me in my life, for them to come to pass, it has to be God. And I don’t care how old you are, God is going to prove to you just who He is. Oh, my God, somebody.

He was speaking to Abram. And He was telling Abram, “I know your situation. You see, Abram, you don’t understand that I caused your wife to be barren from the beginning, because I had something that I wanted to do through you.”

You see, there’s a barren situation that is in your life, that only the seed of God being implanted in it can cause something supernatural to be conceived and birthed. He doesn’t want you to get any glory out of it at all. Can you understand where I’m coming from tonight?

It was a time in his life where the word of God had to bring this thing to pass. Glory to God. In Genesis chapter sixteen, look in your Bibles. It said:

1. Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children . . .

Pray with me tonight.

1. . . . and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

Look at your neighbor and say, “Her name was Hagar.”

2. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

3. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

4. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

Glory to God. You see, when God is not moving fast enough with the promise that He promised us, we tend to try to help God out, don’t we? And a lot of us are in situations where God is saying, “I’ve given you a promise, but wait on Me.” But it seems to be taking so long for the manifestation of the promise that we’re in a position in our minds that we’re about to help God out. Guess what. God don’t need your help being God. He’s God all by Himself. Glory to God.

And so now we’re in a place of the modified blessing. We’re in a place (glory to God) where the blessing that seems to be the blessing is not really the real blessing. And a lot of us are in a place where we’re settling (glory to God) for something that seems like a blessing, but deep down on the inside we know it’s not what God said. Do you hear what I’m saying? I want the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it. I’m tired of the counterfeit. I want the real deal. Look at your neighbor and say, “It’s time for the real deal.” Oh, I wish I had somebody in this house that would get excited about the Word of God tonight.

And so they received the word of the Lord. But the years began to pass, evangelists. And now it seems as though what God said is now impossible. How many of you are at a point in your life right now where it seems like some of the things that God said is impossible? But see, here is where you’ve got to see if you really know who God is. The Bible says that He will make the impossible possible.

And there are people that are sitting right here, that there are many decisions that you’re trying to make that are about to get you off course in God, and you’re going to have to kick and cry to try to get back where you once were. Oh, my God. I know I’m talking to somebody, because the devil done told you to do something that God said no. It’s tight, but it’s right.

And so we have Hagar, the handmaid, conceiving the so-called promise. I don’t want Hagar to conceive what God told me was going to come through me. And some of you are sitting out here tonight, and you’re about to settle. You’re sitting out here, and you’re about to settle for some mess. You’re sitting out here, and you’re saying, “Oh, well. I guess God ain’t coming through.” You sitting out here tonight, and you’re saying to yourself (glory to God), “I need to help God out a little bit.” You’re about to make a major mistake.

And now this thing that is supposed to be blessed, the woman that is supposed to be coming through is now despising the blessing.

Have you ever got the modified blessing, and then when it came, you were mad? When it got there (glory to God) it seemed like it was going to be okay, but it didn’t work like it was supposed to work. Do you hear what I’m saying? It didn’t act like it was supposed to act. Because it wasn’t the real blessing from God.

He’s talking to us tonight. In Genesis eighteen . . . Go there with me. And verse nine through eleven.

9. And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

10. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife . . .

. . . the Lord talking to him . . .

10. . . . shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

In other words, she had passed her child bearing years.

12. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

This thing is impossible.

13. And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

Glory to God. God is speaking. Because now you’re saying in yourself, “It’s too late.” And this is what happens in ministry, because a lot of us get called in our latter years, and we say to ourselves, “I’m on a rush hour, because it seems like my time is ticking, and I’m too late.” Don’t you know that you’re right where you’re supposed to be when God has you there? God doesn’t make mistakes in timing. He’s the Master and the Father of time. You’re right where you’re supposed to be at this season, at this moment. In the Name of Jesus.

So now, Pastor John Michael, she is at a position where she’s laughing, “Ha, ha, ha, ha.” In other words, she was afraid. She was laughing because she was afraid. Because she was saying to herself that this thing is impossible.

Don’t you remember in Genesis after Adam and Eve had sinned, when they hid themselves, God asked them, “Why did you yourselves?”

They said, “We were afraid.” Don’t you know that fear will make you do things that ought to not be done at particular times? A lot of us are in a place of fear right now because God is about to manifest the promise, but we don’t feel like we can wait another moment. But if you wait just a little while longer, you will receive the promise of God.

So God speaks and Sarah laughs. And when the Lord confronted her, she denied it. What did she say? She said, “I didn’t laugh.” But she laughed because she was afraid. She laughed at the promise of God.

And if I took a poll in here, some of you are laughing at some of the things that God has told you. You’re laughing at it, because you think that it’s too late. You think that there’s no way possible that this thing could happen.

I know that God is speaking, because God began to deal with me. God began to deal with me with some of the promises that He’s made me. And I have said to myself in my bedroom, “Now God, you know . . .” Speaking really to myself, “Now, this is not going to happen. Lord, this is . . . This can’t be.”

And then God began to minister to me about Abraham and Sarah, that after all this time finally, finally the promise of God manifested itself. It manifested itself. It manifested in the natural. Sarah lost her faith, didn’t she? Because she took her assessment in the natural. And a lot of you are losing your faith, because you’re taking your assessment in the natural.

I wish somebody would be able to step back over into the Spirit with me. I wish somebody would have God to increase their faith. We’re still move according to our paychecks. We’re still moving according to the natural things. We’re still moving according to the physical things. God is not moving according to the natural and the physical. God is moving by His Spirit.

We get back in carnal thinking, because we hear a carnal no from a carnal man. I need to say that again. We get back in carnal thinking because we hear carnal words that come from carnal man. But Jesus said, “My words are Spirit, and they are life.” When the Word of God is going forth, it’s quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.

He said, “My Word will not return unto Me void, but it will accomplish everything I sent it forth to accomplish.” His Word is always producing something. It has creative power, if we will only get back to the realm of the Word of God having creative power in our lives.

We become complacent, and we wait on stuff to happen, instead of using the Word and making it happen. Oh, you don’t want to hear me. We sit back and we wait on something to happen, instead of getting up and getting our Word and speaking the Word of God that’s able to penetrate any situation, and cause a change. He’s speaking. He’s speaking.

Your faith is what’s going to move the obstacle. Your faith is what’s going to cause God’s hand of righteousness to move for you. For without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must believe first that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. God is speaking to you about your faith, because your faith has been decreased. It’s been decreasing. We don’t believe that God can do it no more. We listen to the prophesies, and we don’t get excited, because really don’t believe God can do it.

It’s just like the children of Israel, if I might be able to say it. The children of Israel saw miracle after miracle. Some of you have seen prophecy come to pass after prophecy. And when you get the next one, you still step back out of faith instead of pushing forward in faith, and waiting on the manifestation of it. It’s like we’re becoming Sarah, and we’re stepping back in the tent, and we’re hiding, and we’re laughing and saying, “How can this thing be?”

I’m coming out of that place. I’m coming out of a realm of waiting on people. You see, people will pull your faith back, because they don’t have the faith that you have. I come to understand that God is able to make the impossible possible. And while you’re trying to stand and wait on God, there are folks (glory to God) that don’t believe the way you believe, and they will hinder your progress in God. Oh, you don’t hear me.

I’m stepping into another realm, because God made me a promise. And it has to be birthed through me, the womb. I’m the womb. You’re the womb. It has to be birthed through you by faith.

He’s speaking to you. He’s saying, “Stop laughing.” He’s saying, “Stop sitting back, acting like God can’t do the impossible.” He’s saying, “Get up off of your nothing and do something.” He’s saying, “Step over into a new realm in Me.” He said, “I’m the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. I haven’t changed since the last promise.”

But you’ve got to get the revelation that it takes more faith for the next promise to come to pass from the last promise. You can’t have the same faith that you had back here in the last promise, trying to get a new thing to operate and to manifest . . . Oh, my God. I know I’m talking to somebody. You have to have an increase in faith. You have to. You have to. There’s got to be an increase in faith. Do you hear what I’m saying tonight?

The disciples prayed, “Lord, help our unbelief.” That’s a good prayer to pray. Lord, help my unbelief. Because don’t you know situations in your life that you’ve gone through can try to pull you back from believing God? But we got to leave the past in the past, and we got to keep on pressing towards the mark of the high call of God in Christ Jesus. Let go of the past. Sever the past. Cut the past off. The past is hindering you from going forward.

Now, where’s your faith tonight? You see, because as your faith grows, the less evidence you need when you hear the voice of God. You see, as your faith begins to grow . . . You know how sometimes we need a confirmation? After while you ain’t going to need no confirmation, because you’re going to get to the point where you know God’s voice, and you know that God is speaking to you. I’m not just talking about an audible voice that you hear. I’m talking about a voice in your spirit, and you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God is speaking to you.

Where’s your faith, Sarah? Where’s your faith, Abraham? You said it’s too late. You’re saying this is impossible. You’re so depressed and down. You’re saying, “God, it’s impossible for me to come out of this.” The devil is a liar.

“Well, every job has turned me down. I’ll never work again.” The devil is a lie. There’s a doorway for you right around the corner, if you have faith. You have to believe. You have to start believing all over again.

The Bible says in these last days times will wax worse and worse. But you’ve got to tunnel through. You’ve got to push through the worst times. You got to push through it. He’s going to do it. Sarah, He’s going to do it. Abraham, He’s going to do it. He’s going to do it.

Now, who believes Him tonight? I believe Him. I believe Him. The only reason why it hasn’t happened, He’s still changing me. I believe Him. I believe every word He said, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. That’s why I can retain my joy when all hell is breaking loose around me, because God has promised. Hey, I feel the Anointing of God.

Somebody needed this word tonight. Somebody needed to hear this, because you’ve been wavering in your faith. Some mornings you get up, and you have the biggest, greatest faith around. And by the time the noon whistle blows, you done started rocking. “Well, He can do it, but I don’t know.” Then by the time six o’clock gets there, “God ain’t going to do nothing.” We be agreeing with the devil. “Naw, He ain’t going to do nothing. He ain’t done nothing. Naw. He ain’t going to do nothing. Yeah, you’re right. He ain’t going to do nothing.” Not literally, but our actions speak it, because we’ve lost our praise. We’ve lost it. Get your praise back. I don’t care what your situation is in here tonight, get your praise back. Get your worship back.

The visitation came to the house of God tonight. God was here. He manifested Himself. And some of us were still thinking about getting ready to leave, and for the service to be over, if the truth be known. You come to God’s house to visit God. You don’t come to visit pastor. You can talk to me any time. But God, you can talk to Him any time. But when He comes and shows up, and He visits you.

Where’s your faith? Where’s your faith? Where’s your faith? Ask yourself. Don’t ask, you know, look at somebody else right now and say, “Well, you know, they need this word.” No, you need this word. Where’s your faith? Where is it? Be honest with yourself. If you need a faith increase, ask Him for it. Yes, that means that there’s going to be something that you’re about to go through, but I know that in the end I’m going to win. Amen.

Where’s your faith tonight? Okay. Ask yourself. I used to find myself (and I’m closing) being such a cautious person, real cautious. See, there’s a difference in having wisdom and really being afraid. There’s a difference. You know how we can back up off a thing, be like, “No, no, no, no. You know, let me wait.” And really we’re scared. But we’re telling you, “No, we got to have wisdom.” That was me.

But see, we can’t be overcome with fear. We have to walk by faith and not by sight. And stop being afraid of people. You see, if you’re going to walk in faith, you’ve got to be a risk taker. All faith walkers are risk takers. You have to be able to risk something if you’re going to walk by faith. Going to have to risk your reputation as being this great man of God or woman of God, that everybody looks up to and respects. But you stepped out on faith, and you were wrong. You got to risk being wrong. You have to, if you’re going to walk in faith.

We have one life to live in this natural realm. Why are we so afraid? To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So why are we so afraid? What are we afraid of? We’re afraid of people and what they think. Stop being afraid of people. Stop being afraid of what people think.

There are so many things that people have thought about me and said about me. I was talking to a brother today. It’s been all said. You can’t say nothing else. So I ain’t got no reason to be afraid of nothing. See, when you come to the place where everything has been said about you, that’s when you can really step out into stuff. But if you’re still worried about what folks got to say about you, you’ll never reach your full potential. Never. You need to hear that. Never. Because you’ll always be afraid of making a mistake.

Have you ever seen people when somebody blamed them about something, and it really wasn’t them, and they back up and be like, “No, no, no, no, no. the reason that happened was they did, they that . . .” No, they’re afraid because they’ve made themselves of reputation. Make yourself of no reputation, and then you can really walk by faith, because no matter what happens and what doors close on you, folks ain’t thinking nothing of you no way. Oh, somebody needed to hear that word.

Don’t worry about what they say. Start walking by faith. Give Him praise tonight. Hallelujah.