Second meeting that's recorded in Luke, Chapter 4, just a few verses later He had a demon start yelling out in the middle of the meeting, so He was strong. He grew strong in spirit the Bible says, so I encourage you make a determination that you will develop this capacity of David. See his immediate default response when the enemy arose was to rise up in his spirit straight away. You want to fight? He didn't pick the fight. God set the fight up for him. He didn't pick the fight - it was the Philistines started the fight and so you don't know what situation you've got coming up this year where God is getting the devil stirred up to pick a fight with you, so you can arise and break through. It's a perspective area. It's an issue of faith. It's an issue of seeing that what comes into my life God knows all about it and I've got what it takes - so before the thing comes I should be doing some preparation, building my strength so when something comes immediately default mode is to stand up.
You can't sort of develop a strong prayer thing in the middle of a crisis, you know? In the middle of a crisis you've got what you've got. It just gets revealed, that's all. So why don't we just make a decision that you're going to develop some strength in your spirit, so you begin to pray every day, begin to build your strength, build your capacity and build the flow. It's not loudly shouting, it's from within your spirit speaking strongly see? As you do it - Cheyenne, just come over here. Let me show you what I mean - just come over here. Sorry, just stand just where you are - that's right. Now you see if I just begin to arise in my spirit [Speaks in tongues 00.18.34] and I begin to say that within me is the mighty power of God, then I'm sure if I will just stretch my hand out the power of God will just touch him and he'll be touched by what's inside me. See? I didn't have my eyes open when I did that. He's got touched by something that flowed out of me because I practiced arising and believing that the power of God was in me. Same spirit in you by the way, I've just done a bit of homework, that's all. You can do homework too, then you'll be different by the end of the year. Do the homework, build strength inside you.
So you build strength - one of the ways, by speaking the word of God; one of the ways is by praying in tongues, but get praying in tongues. I love praying in tongues. I've just determined since I've been away on holiday, I came back, I'm praying in tongues. Joy's isn't at home so I pray in tongues all the time around the house now. [Prays in tongues 00.19.27] I find myself talking to myself. It's shocking really but however I'm growing in strength, ready for the new challenges this year aye - and you can do it too, strong. So the first thing you notice about it, he's strong. Now having got into a position to begin with a fight, then the next thing you notice he's incredibly sensitive and here's an interesting thing about the kingdom. Often things in the kingdom seem to be like a paradox. They seem to be opposite to one another and so you find it says Jesus taught in two places, Matthew 11 - the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, violent men take it by force - and that's that strong, assertive taking dominion. Then in Matthew 18 he makes a completely opposite statement, and you look at it and you think is this the same guy talking? But there's two truths held in balance. He said in Matthew 18, Verse 3, except you be converted and become as a child you can't enter the kingdom. So on the one hand it's being assertive, there's a place for that; on the other hand there's a place to be soft and tender and to be sensitive like a child is. Now you just think, he said unless you be converted and become like a child. You think what a little child is like. They're often quite sensitive. I can remember Sarah sneezed and her baby started crying - kids can be quite sensitive, but the thing is that a child is also quite vulnerable. See if I'm with a child they'll pour their feelings out and pour their thoughts out. They'll just come and they'll cry if they're unhappy. They'll express what's going on in their life and often we learn as Christians, we learn not to express and pour out in a tender way and a soft way and a sensitive way to the Lord, the disappointments, the struggles, the pains. There's a place to speak it out and to become vulnerable to God and intimate with Him, so the praise is very strong but the worship, we need to be very tender and so I practiced for a long time having times of being incredibly strong and then just finding the flow of the spirit where I could feel God and then I'd just weep. If you have a look at my accordion to this day it's covered with tear marks. There's the two sides that go with working with the spirit of God, very strong, very sensitive and the Bible tells us don't grieve the Holy Spirit, or in other words be sensitive to how your conduct can grieve the Holy Spirit. He particularly talks about bitterness and anger and speaking badly about other people. He said all of those things grieve the Holy Spirit and stop Him operating powerfully in your life, so notice there the two things of David; very strong and very sensitive. Strong, sensitive - strong, sensitive and you've got to learn to be able to be like that. Tough, tender, strong, sensitive.