- Welcome to our week of prayer.

This week the staff ofCBN gathers remotely

because we're still in shelter-in-place,

but we still gathertogether to pray for you,

and to pray for your prayer needs.

So if you want to be included,

you want to have yourprayer requests prayed over,

all you have to do iscall us 1-800-700-7000

or you can go to cbn.com.

You can also write to us

at CBN Center, VirginiaBeach, Virginia 23463.

During this week we're praying for you

and we're praying specifically

because we believe in specific prayers.

That's been a hallmark of CBN

since our founding back in 1960.

My father founded theChristian Broadcasting Network.

He filed the articles ofincorporation in January 1960

and then it took roughly 18 months

to get to the point where he was ready

to turn the transmitter on.

And at that time he didn't have the money

to pay for the transmitter.

He had enabled it tobe installed on credit,

but the company said,

"You can't turn it on untilyou've paid us for it."

So he announced that it would start

on October 1, 1961

and a month before that

he didn't have the moneyto turn the transmitter on.

So he said, "Let's pray."

And so the small staff then

and some members of somelocal churches got together

and let's pray.

Let's pray to take the airwaves for Jesus.

Let's pray for the first

Christian television station in America.

And they prayed

and a miracle happened.

And the day that it wasannounced, October 1,

a check came in to completelypay for that transmitter.

God woke up a local businessman

and said you have to go see Pat Robertson.

You have to see him right now

and you have to give hima check for this amount.

And that amount wasthe exact amount needed

to pay for the transmitter.

So we believe in prayer,

and we like to pray,

and we'd like to pray for you.

During this week we also askthat you would pray for us

and pray for theworldwide ministry of CBN.

These are unusual timeswhere our Delhi office,

the entire nation of India is in shutdown.

and we've had to pivot andhow do we do things remotely?

How do we do things from home?

How do we maintain a broadcast schedule?

In Manila, we've successfully pivoted

and are literally shooting our hosts

in their own homes and assembling that

into broadcast television.

So we're being forced to be creative,

but God is a creative God

and He wants to give us creative ideas.

But we need to pray.

We need to ask,

we need to humble ourselves and say,

"God we don't know away forward but you do.

Let your word be a lamp unto our feet

and a light unto our path."

If you don't know where to go,

always go to the Word of God

and it will show you the way.

Before we pray,

I want to do that.

I want to go to the Word of God.

This is a verse that came to me yesterday.

It's from Isaiah chapter 12

and this is all partof the water ceremony.

This is the exact prayer thatthe priests would be praying.

The exact passage thatthe entire congregation of

Israel would be saying on this great day

that they'd celebrate God's salvation

and they would have a procession

with golden vessels downto the pool of Siloam

and they would take water from there.

That pool was fed by the Gihon Spring

and that was a source of waterdirectly from Mount Zion.

They would take thatwater to the temple mount,

to the temple,

and pour it out before the altar

and they would say the following words,

"Behold, God is my salvation.

I will trust and not be afraid.

For yah the Lord is my strength and song,

He also has become my salvation.

Therefore with joy,

you will draw water

from the wells of salvation."

Well when Jesus stood in the temple

in John chapter seven and said,

"If anyone's thirst,

let them come to me."

He said that at the heightof the water ceremony,

as the priests had poured out the water

and said, "With joy you will draw water

from the wells of salvation."

Let us do that in themiddle of this crisis.

Let us remember,

God is our salvation.

He is our strength.

He is our song.

With joy let us draw water from Him,

and He will sustain us.

Now we've gotten prayer requests.

I'll read just a few of them.

Here's one that's come in.

"We found out about the same time

as the COVID-19 virus started,

that our mother has lung cancer.

My wife, my son, my sister and I

have been caring for her day and night

during the stay at home order.

I'm asking for prayerfor my mother's healing.

Prayer to help us gothrough this difficult time

and that God will show us what is next

to best take care of her.

Thank you so much for thework that you all do."

Here's another one.

"Please pray with me forGod to restore my marriage,

and to turn my husband's heart

back to me and the children.

He committed adultery months ago

and it's been hard on me and the kids.

We both want to work on the marriage,

but I'm afraid of being hurt again.

Please pray for us to be one again

and be a great example to our kids.

Our 10 year weddinganniversary is this summer."

Here's another one.

"Please pray for my 16 year old son,

who has run away."

Let's lift these requestsand if you have a request,

just pray it out loud before the Lord

and realize that he willanswer specifically.

At that prayer meeting 60 years ago,

we prayed specificallyfor a specific amount

and got answered with a specific amount

and told someone who had the ability

to write a check for that amount

and deliver it at a certain point in time.

It was just in time to turnon the transmitters for CBN.

And so CBN founded,

founded on prayer and realize in prayer,

you can find the answerto every human need.

You can find creative ideas.

You can find healing.

You can find restoration.

You can find salvation.

So together let's draw water

from that well of salvation,

realizing there's nolimit to His salvation.

There's no limit to His power.

There's no limit to God.

In our own strength we can't do it.

But with Him,

we can do all things.

Let's pray.

Lord, we lift these prayer requests to You

and we pray specifically forthis mother with lung cancer.

We just asked that her lungs be healed

and the cancer be driven from her body.

For the marriage,

Lord for the breaking of vows,

we ask for forgiveness.

We ask for cleansing.

We ask for restoration.

Let the marriage be strong.

Rekindle love, Lord God, rekindle it.

Rekindle their vows.

We know that You hate divorce

because You want righteous children.

So let Your righteousnessreign in that family.

You promised to give us

righteousness, peace and joy.

So we declare that over this family now.

Now for the 16 year old who has run away,

turn his heart, Lord God.

And we ask that whateverdrove him away be removed,

that he would be restored tohis parents and to his home.

Turn hearts, Lord God,

the hearts of the parents to the child

and the child to the parents.

As we watch and wait for his return,

we thank You for whatYou're doing in his life.

We thank You, that he will be transformed

and he will come to know You.

And now for all who are watching,

for all who have prayers.

Lord, You are the God of specificity.

You are the God of detail.

And You work all things together.

Al of those details,

You work them together for our good.

You have been working them together.

You will be working them together

and we declare Your victory.

And now we ask thatYour kingdom would come,

Your will would be done onearth as it is in heaven.

In heaven there's no one hungry.

There's no one homeless.

There's no one diseased.

There's no one with heartache.

There are no more tears.

So we see Your will.

And we ask that Your willwould be done on earth.

And Lord, we ask that You would use us.

You would be in us to bring Your love

and Your power

and Your kingdom here.

Let there be love here.

Let there be peace,

the peace that passes all understanding.

For we ask it in Jesusname, amen and amen.

If you want us to pray for you,

now's the time to getyour prayer request in.

So call us 1-800-700-7000.

You can still write to us.

We'll still be praying for these requests.

And you can also go to cbn.com.

Either way right to us,

CBN Center, VirginiaBeach, Virginia 23463.

Log on to cbn.com.

Just write in your request there

and just pick up the phoneand call 1 800 700 7000.

Well as the founding pastor

of one of the fastestgrowing churches in America,

Josh Gagnon prayed big prayers

and has seen God do whatmany thought impossible.

Along the way,

he's had to perseverethrough many challenges

as is learned to trust God,

no matter the circumstances.

Josh joins us now to share more.

(calm music)

- Hello, I want to welcomethe CBN family today.

My name is Josh Gagnon.

I'm the lead pastor of Next Level Church.

We're a multi-site church.

We have locations throughout New England

and we also have alocation in Tampa, Florida.

So when it gets super cold in New England,

you kinda skirt down into Florida,

get a little bit of sun.

I'm so excited to be able to hang out

with you for a little bit.

I just wrote a book called,

"It's Not Over: LeavingBehind Disappointment

and Learning to Dream Again".

And when it comes to writing a book,

you're always asked, "What'syour favorite chapter?

"What's your favorite chapter?"

And it's almost likepicking one of your kids.

I've got a beautiful bride named Jennifer,

and two sons Malachi and Nehemiah.

If someone's like,

"Who's your favorite son?"

It's like, I couldn't answer that.

And when it comes to writing a book,

it's the same, really like,

"What's your favorite chapter?"

I'm like, "Chapter...dependson the day depends on the day.

I would say that chapterseven is my favorite chapter.

Just between you and Idon't tell anybody else,

don't tell any of the other chapters.

Don't let them in on this secret.

Chapter seven is my favorite chapter.

It's very close to my heartand I kind of want to,

I want to share a little bitof that chapter with you.

My friend, Daniel, andhis beautiful bride,

also my friend, Katherine.

They were the first staff members ever

at next level church whenwe started next level.

In 2008 we had 12 people,

$200 and me as the pastor,

not a hopeful start, right.

So I hired Daniel

and he's like, "Would you hire me?"

I said, "I'm not even hired yet."

But if you'll work for free you're hired.

He's like, "I'll work for free."

I was like, "I gave youmy word, you're hired.

That's the price I needed."

So he came all the way in from Arizona,

him and his wife, Katherine

and they were on staff

and they wanted to have a baby.

So they were trying to have a child

and trying to get pregnant

and they had some miscarriages,

a lot of pain in that season for them.

And finally I got a call,

Katherine's pregnant.

We're celebrating.

Yeah, we're so excited and months go by.

She went in for an ultrasound

and the doctor said there's a problem.

One of your child's kidneys is okay,

and the other one'scompletely non existent.

And we're not sure if the one that's okay

is going to be okay enough.

And so we prayed andwe prayed and we prayed

and they prayed and we justtrusted God for a miracle.

We prayed.

and then Katherine gave birth

and I was waiting anxiouslyI got the phone call.

And Daniel said, "Hey, Pastor..."

I said, "Yeah?".

He goes, "Could you come to the hospital?

It's worse than we expected."

Which was not the newsI was hoping to get.

So I get to the hospital as fast as I can

and they're crying

and we're crying together,

we're praying together.

Josiah was born with manydifferent health concerns.

Matter of fact, in thefirst year of his life,

he had, I believe, over 30 surgeries.

He spent more time at thehospital than he did at home.

Just a very difficult season.

Years go by and here we are,

Josiah is 10 right now.

And if you looked at Josiah,

man he's full of passion and a wonderful,

wonderful child of God who loves Jesus

He's a wonderful child.

And if you looked at him,

you wouldn't know that he has

all sorts of health conditions

that he'll fight throughthe rest of his life

unless Jesus heals him.

I was at dinner with withDaniel and Katherine recently

and I asked Katherine,

"what's been the hardestpart of the last 10 years?"

She answered this, she said, "Praying."

As tears begin to fall down her cheeks.

She said, "Praying."

I said, "Really?

I didn't see that coming,

can you explain?"

She said, "I used to pray, Pastor,

that God would heal my baby.

And then when he was born,

I would pray over him

and pray over him

and pray over him."

She says, "Now 10 years later,

nothing's changed,

I have a hard time praying."

I thought man,

I so get it.

I so get it.

It was the first time I realized

that our dream life and our prayer life,

they're not two separate realities,

they're intertwined as one.

But then the size of our dream,

determines the size of our prayers

and the size of our prayers determine,

the size of our dreams

and when we stopped dreaming

that God's going to heal our child,

we stopped praying big bold prayers.

Or when we stopped dreaming

that God's going to helpus start that business

or start that ministry

or answer whatever prayer might be,

we stopped dreaming wecan break an addiction.

We stopped praying big, bold prayers.

Our dream life and our prayer life,

they parallel or theyintersect one another.

You know God honors bold prayers

and bold prayers honor God.

And I started realizing in my prayer life,

there are so many areas that

I've prayed and prayed and prayed

but because of past "not yet's, no's,"

or "I'm not sure's",

for me, I've stopped praying with passion.

And so in writing this book,

I was writing this book

while I had thisconversation with Katherine,

I came up with three different things

that I've committed to

grounding my faith inwhen it comes to prayer.

The first one is this is,

it's this is one prayer I pray,

"God help me trust Yourcharacter over my circumstances.

I trust Your character is good.

I trust Your character is faithful.

I trust Your character is for me,

that You are loving that You are holy,

that You are all knowing

that Your character is good, God."

And so when I'm strugglingwith my prayer life,

the way that I that the waythat I interject passion,

and faith is praying out loud.

I trust Your characterover my circumstances,

because when I look at my circumstances,

and I place them first,

I can start to wonderabout the character of God.

But if I put the character of God first

and cause the circumstancesto submit the His character,

I can have faith in the midst of storms.

Remember our circumstanceshave to bow down

to the character of God.

God's character does not bowdown to our circumstances.

God help me trust Your character

over my circumstanceswhen it comes to prayer.

Another prayer I pray is,

"God help me see possibilities,

when I'm surrounded by impossibilities.

When everything seems impossible,

help me see what is possible."

Jesus is asleep in a boat

I'm sure you know the story right,

He's curled up in the corner sleeping,

waves are crashing,

waves are crashing the boat,

water's coming in the boat,

the disciples are with Jesus Christ,

and they're like "We're gonna die!"

Jesus is dreaming in the corner

about His next sermon,

I don't know what He's dreaming about

but He's hanging out in the corner.

Disciples go over like "Jesuswake up, we're gonna die!"

Here's what I love.

Jesus says this.

He says this,

this question man,

tell me this question doesn'tdoesn't hit you to a nerve.

Jesus says, "Why are you so afraid?"

"Why are you so afraid?"

Here's what Jesus saw,

Jesus saw the waves.

Jesus felt the wind.

Jesus knew the boat was taken on water.

Jesus knew.

But He still asked,

"Why are you afraid?"

Here's what He's saying.

"Why have you put your faith in the winds

and waves when you'resitting in a boat with me?

Why are you afraid whenyou're with the King of Kings?

Why are you afraid when I'm in your boat?

I know the waves are coming.

I know the wind is howling.

But why are you afraid?"

Here's my prayer.

God, when I'm faced with impossibilities,

when I'm sitting in a boat,

it feels like the waves are crashing

and the wind is blowing.

Help me trust that there isnothing impossible for You.

That there are possibilitieswhen my God is in my boat.

That there are possibilities when I trust

that my God can do the impossible.

You do not need to focuson the winds and waves.

You just need to rememberJesus is in your boat.

So when you're praying

and you're thinking about

all the things that haven't happened,

start trusting Him

and believing that He canstill do the impossible.

He's not wondering why you'renoticing the winds and waves.

He's just wondering why you'resubmitting to their fear.

God help me trust that evenwhen there's impossibilities

You're still in charge.

And the third prayer is this.

God give me faith to say,

"Even if You don't".

And that's where faith begins, right?

Faith begins at the word "even",

ends with the word "don't".

Even if You don't,

I still trust You.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo,

king Nebuz is like "You're gonna die.

You're gonna die.

But there's four.

But there's four."

We know the story ends that way.

But what about this?

What about Shadrach, Meshachand Abednego saying this,

"Even if You don't show up, God,

I'm not submitting to anything else.

I'm not submitting to a fear.

I'm not submitting to a threat

and I'm not submitting to a statue

or a king other than my God."

Even if You don't.

God help me believe even if You don't.

Katherine sent me this massive email

not too long ago aftershe read the book, right?

She's like, "oh in chapter seven..."

of course she's in there,

and she wrote me a letter and she said,

"Pastor, I now pray with even if you don't

type of faith in prayers."

Even if you don't type of prayer,

"Even if You don't heal my son, Josiah,

You are still my God

and You are still good,

and Your character is still faithful.

Even if You don't,

I am still going to raiseYour name in prayer.

I'm still going to praise Your name.

Even if You don't,

I am Your child.

You are my King.

I am Yours.

I am Yours.

Even if You don't."

Faith begins at the word "even"

and ends at the word "don't".

Even if you don't.

How are we going to pray big bold prayers

that honor God in every season?

Well, we're going to ask God

to help us trust His characterof our circumstances.

We're gonna ask Him tohelp us see possibilities

when all we see is impossibilities.

We're gonna asked Him togive us the faith to believe.

Even if you don't,

I'm still okay.

And You're still God,

and You're still good.

And You're still faithful.

CBN family, I'm so thankful

to hang out with you such an honor,

such a blessing.

Thank you for all you do.

Thank you for this ministry

that reaches thousands and thousands

and thousands of people,

changing lives,

helping prayer lives.

Every day you show up and you're faithful.

You show up and you're faithful.

And God is using you incredible,

incredible, incredible ways.

May you be with Him.

Let's pray.

Jesus, pray right now

that our prayer life would increase

in ways we never could have imagined.

Thank You for Your character.

Thank You that You can do the impossible.

And thank You and evenwhen we don't see You move,

You were still faithfuleven if You don't do

what we hope,

You're doing what's best.

We ask it in Jesus name, amen.

God bless.