Rest by Pastor Lawrence Oyor: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Building Is Easy When There Is Rest

When this building was being set up, the vision of what it would become was limited by what could be seen. If the vision had been bigger, more of the surrounding land would have been purchased when it was available. The way it works is that when there is a lot of warfare, vision is difficult. Building is easy when there is rest. We honor our fathers because if there is rest now it is because there was labor before.

As we are here, there are several things other churches think about that we do not think about. We do not have to worry that a landlord will come and tell us to leave. We were born into a measure of rest. One of the reasons you labor as a human being is so that your children can come into rest. Even the labor you think you had — as long as you did not work for your primary school fees, you were already in a measure of rest.

So it is obvious that the current amount of rest we have is no longer conducive for the visions God is putting in our spirit. It is time for more. And that is why we have been laboring and warring. This year we are trusting the Lord that we will enter into even greater rest. Rest is in levels.

• There is a level of rest where you can buy a flight no matter what the cost is, at any time.
• There is a level of rest where there is no flight to book — so you charter a jet and go.

The same rest, different locations. Somebody here will enter a greater level of rest in every area of life.

Do Not Waste Your Year

Anything that wastes years will begin first by wasting seconds. Then minutes. Then hours. Then days. Then weeks. Then months. Then years. So if you have lost years, it started with losing seconds.

Stop concerning yourself with the year wasting. Concern yourself with the next minute wasting. If you focus on your minutes and your hours, you will succeed in saving your years. Wake up in the morning and process your day — write everything down, and one by one, no distraction, no interruption, no interception, finish it.

It is never demons appearing to waste your time. It is the simple conversations that have no head or tail. This year is a year to be brutal — very brutal. If you will not waste your life, wrong people cannot waste your time. Let it be obvious that you are serious with your life. Not that you are angry with them, but you are more serious than you have energy for any distraction. Prioritizing yourself financially and building capacity is not selfishness — it is wisdom. Because they will still come, and because you prioritized yourself, you will be able to help them better tomorrow.

This is not a year for black tax. You are not the Lord. You cannot help everybody. Even the Lord did not heal everybody.

Also, no negative words. Nothing pulls you back like your own self-prophesying against yourself. A Harvard University study found that when a person speaks positive words to their body, the body literally begins to repair itself in one to two weeks. We have known this for centuries — death and life are in the power of the tongue. This year, use your mouth to carry your life in the direction you want it to go. In the middle of doubt and shaking feet, start shouting over yourself: It is my year.

What Is Rest?

I tried looking for a definition of rest as I'm using it, and I could not find one that suited the picture in my heart. So here is a spontaneous one:

Definition 1A — Rest is your next level of quantity and quality of results.

When we say we are entering greater rest this year, we mean greater rest — because we have already entered into a measure of rest. Rest is not the final level. When you enter that next level, there will still be another level after it that you will call rest.

You must have a picture of what rest looks like, because we grow by pictures, we move by pictures, we are propelled by pictures. I can tell you what will happen this year — not because God told me specifically, but because of what I have pictured. As far as my eyes can see is what I will have. What you see is prophecy.

A friend told me: anything the anointing on you cannot do, you will not be able to capture. Anything your mind can capture is possible within your anointing. When you are in retreat, you start capturing things you could not capture before — and when you come down you wonder why you were thinking so small. It is what is within the bandwidth of your anointing that your heart will capture and declare.

So this year we are expecting both greater quantity and greater quality:

• Quantity: more of what we have already seen
• Quality: a higher level than before

You can have 15,000 deaf ears open — that is not the same thing as one ear growing out. One miracle of higher quality can dwarf another of great quantity. Start contending for higher quality. Acts 19:11 speaks of "special" miracles — meaning other miracles existed but these were of a higher order: handkerchiefs and aprons taken from Paul's body healed the sick and cast out demons.

Definition 1B — Rest is the next level of ease.

The same you who had to do a lot to achieve a particular result — now you are achieving the same result with less effort. That means you have entered a higher level of rest. Notice I did not say rest means sleeping. Anytime we hear "rest," some of you think of doing nothing. That is not rest.

Rest is not calmness. You can speak calmly and nothing is happening — that is not rest, that is just personality. You can shout and be at complete rest. Rest is when you are just yourself, doing what you do, and results keep coming without strain.

This year will be easier than last year. But for this to happen, do not fall in love with the idea of being stressed. It is not those who are stressed who are making progress.

The Back End Ensures the Front End

In ministry and in life, what produces rest at the front end is what is built at the back end. All the jumping and drama in the name of anointing — without the back end — produces nothing. Rest in results is produced by mastery. There are several routes to rest; mastery through repeated practice is one of them. When you have mastered something, that is a kind of rest.

The rest we have entered in healing and deliverance is because of mastery. A child of seven learns the route and sees the same results. That is how mastery works.

There is also a higher level where anyone who enters your atmosphere must receive — they do not even need faith of their own.

Rest Demands Vision

Assignment before next Sunday: write in graphic detail what rest looks like to you. You must see it. You can't go where you have not seen. As you look at that picture of rest, the Holy Ghost will start downloading the consecrations that go with that level.

Rest looks like being in the next location — already overflowing. That picture will start inspiring today's labors. The version of you that will enter into rest is not this version. You must see it, because as you look at that picture, the Holy Ghost begins to download the disciplines, the prayers, the sacrifices that match that level.

Rest Is Not Passivity

Solomon was called a man of rest in 1 Chronicles 22:9. God said, "A son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days."

But who fought for that rest? David. Just in case you ever think rest will come without labor — God himself labored six days and entered into rest. Anytime you hear rest, first think: labor. If you want more rest, you are talking about more labor.

Our labor does not end until we see Jesus. There is always a higher level of rest. Rest is the next level — and unless there is no next level, you labor. But your labor this time comes from your current level of rest. It is rest upon rest, level upon level.

Pressure must be in your spirit forever. "One thing I do — forgetting what is behind." That is a man under pressure. You never rest in peace — you rest in labor.

From Rest, You Think of Others

Thinking of other people inside of warfare is not easy. One of the ways you can live a life that intentionally blesses your world is when you have rested. Do you think Elon Musk would be thinking about going to the moon if he had no food to eat? Some futures are impossible without rest. Some destinies are not even on the table of conversation until you enter rest. You won't even hear it. You can't even dream it.

Declare: Every warfare assigned to waste my time — you are a liar. Nothing will waste my year. No one will waste my year. In the name of Jesus, I redeem my time. All strategy of hell to make this year like previous years negatively — it is a lie. Nothing will waste my year.