Possessing Our Possessions Through Praying in the Spirit
This sermon invites listeners into a deeper understanding of how to live out the spiritual blessings already provided by God through Christ. It emphasizes the transformative power of a personal walk with the Holy Spirit, particularly through prayer.
This sermon teaches that believers possess all blessings through Christ's finished work on the cross. Walking intimately in the Holy Spirit, especially by praying in tongues, is key to activating and experiencing these spiritual possessions, leading to deliverance and fruitfulness.
Overview
The sermon begins by highlighting God's instruction to Joshua: "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you." It interprets the Old Testament as a shadow, with believers now living in the substance of the new covenant. By mapping the geographical points mentioned in Joshua 1:4, the sermon illustrates a cross, signifying that all spiritual possessions are secured through Christ's finished work.
These possessions include healing, founded not on begging, but on the authoritative finished work of the cross, where Jesus bore our diseases. It also covers financial provision and freedom from stress, worries, and cares, symbolized by Jesus' sweating blood in the garden, redeeming us from the curse of painful toil.
The core argument shifts to the new covenant way of possessing these blessings: "walking in the Spirit." This is presented as a more intimate walk than Enoch's "walking with God" or Abraham's "walking before God." The sermon defines walking in the Spirit primarily through consistent, daily prayer in tongues, which it distinguishes from the public gift of tongues.
According to the preacher, praying in tongues builds up one's "most holy faith," teaches mysteries, and brings revelation, allowing the spirit man to lead beyond intellectual limitations. This practice is said to produce prosperity, good success, health, and profound deliverance from addictions and sinful passions, transforming the heart rather than merely modifying behavior.
Key points
- Believers have inherited spiritual "land" and possessions through Christ's finished work on the cross, as foreshadowed in Joshua 1.
- The geographical markers in Joshua 1:4 (wilderness, Lebanon, Euphrates, Great Sea) form a cross, symbolizing that all our possessions are found in the cross.
- Healing is a definite possession from the cross, to be received by faith and authority, not by pleading or bargaining with God.
- Freedom from stress, worries, and material lack are also secured at the cross through Jesus' sacrifice.
- The new covenant way to possess these blessings and overcome the lusts of the flesh is to "walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16), which includes consistent prayer in tongues.
- Praying in tongues (the personal prayer language) builds up one's most holy faith, reveals mysteries, teaches divine truth, and keeps believers in God's love.
- This spiritual practice leads to practical benefits such as prosperity, good success, sustained health, and true deliverance from sin and addiction through heart transformation.
In Joseph Prince's words
“Your spirit man is faster than your head.”
“The strength of sin is the law.”
“True deliverance is losing the desire for that thing.”
Outline
- I. Introduction: There Is Yet Very Much Land to Be Possessed
- A. Joshua 1: God Has Already Given the Land
- 1. The Old Testament as a Shadow, New Covenant as Substance
- 2. Geographical Points of Joshua 1:4 Reveal the Cross
- B. Our Possessions Are Found in the Cross
- II. Possessing Specific Blessings from the Cross
- A. Healing: Based on the Finished Work of Christ (Isaiah 53)
- B. Financial Provision: Through His Poverty You Might Be Rich
- C. Freedom from Stress, Fears, Worries, and Cares
- 1. Jesus Sweat Blood in Gethsemane, Redeeming the Curse of Toil
- III. The New Covenant Way of Walking with God
- A. Old Covenant Walks:
- 1. Enoch: Walked With God (Genesis 5, Hebrews 11)
- 2. Abraham: Walk Before Me and Be Blameless (Genesis 17)
- B. New Covenant Walk: Walk In the Spirit (Galatians 5:16)
- 1. More Intimate: In the Spirit, Not With or Before
- 2. Your Spirit Man as the Holy of Holies
- IV. Praying in Tongues: The Key to Walking in the Spirit
- A. Definition: Praying in the Spirit = Praying in Tongues
- B. Paul's Emphasis on Praying in Tongues (1 Corinthians 14)
- 1. "I Wish You All Speak with Tongues"
- 2. "I Thank My God I Speak with Tongues More Than You All"
- C. Benefits of Praying in Tongues:
- 1. Builds Up Your Most Holy Faith (Jude 1:20)
- 2. Keeps You in the Love of God
- 3. Teaches Mysteries and Brings Revelation
- 4. Spirit Man Is Faster Than Your Head
- 5. Leads to Prosperity and Good Success (Joshua 1:8, Psalms 1)
- 6. Delivers from Addiction and Sin (Testimonies, David Wilkerson, Jackie Pullinger)
- V. Dead to the Law, Married to Christ
- A. The Law Arouses Sinful Passions; the Spirit Gives Life (Romans 7)
- B. Reckon Yourself Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Romans 6:6, 11)
- C. True Deliverance Is Heart Transformation, Not Behavior Modification
- VI. Receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Praying in Tongues
- A. It Is a Gift to Be Received by All Believers
- B. Prophetic Results of Praying in the Spirit (Isaiah 59, Ezekiel 47)
- 1. Rivers of Living Water Flow, Bringing Life, Healing, Evangelism, and Fruitfulness
- C. Call to Receive Jesus and Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
Scripture references
- Joshua 1
- Joshua 1:4
- Joshua 1:8
- Isaiah 53
- Isaiah 59
- Genesis 3:8
- Romans 6:6
- Romans 6:11
- Romans 7
- Genesis 5
- Hebrews 11
- Genesis 17
- Galatians 5:16
- Jude 1:20
- 1 Corinthians 14
- Psalms 1
- Ezekiel 47
- Isaiah 28
- Genesis 22
1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.
2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Insights
God's provided blessings are already ours through the cross; we simply need to walk in them.
True freedom from sin comes not from struggle, but by reckoning our old self dead in Christ.
Praying in tongues allows our spirit to commune deeply with God, beyond intellectual limits.
Questions & answers
What does the sermon mean by "possessing our possessions"?
It refers to receiving and experiencing the spiritual blessings and provisions God has already secured for believers through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. These are gifts that need to be walked into and appropriated by faith.
How does the sermon connect Joshua 1 to the cross?
By visually mapping the geographical points mentioned in Joshua 1:4 (wilderness, Lebanon, Euphrates, Great Sea), the sermon illustrates a cross shape. This symbolizes that all of the believer's spiritual "territory" or possessions are found in the cross of Jesus Christ.
What is the sermon's view on healing?
Healing is presented as a firm provision of the cross, established by Jesus' work, not something to beg for based on God's potential mercy. Believers are encouraged to command disease to leave with authority, knowing Jesus bore their sicknesses.
What is "walking in the Spirit" according to this sermon?
"Walking in the Spirit" is described as a new covenant, intimate walk where the Holy Spirit resides *in* the believer. A primary way to engage in this walk is through consistent, daily prayer in tongues, which enables one to not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Why does the sermon emphasize praying in tongues?
Praying in tongues is presented as a powerful, yet often overlooked, spiritual ingredient that builds up one's most holy faith, reveals mysteries, brings divine teaching, and leads to prosperity, success, health, and freedom from addiction.
How does the sermon address the relationship between the Law and sin?
The sermon states that "the strength of sin is the law" and that the law arouses sinful passions. Believers are "dead to the law" to be "married to Christ," meaning their heart transformation through grace allows them to produce moral excellence beyond what the law could achieve.
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