Dharius Daniels - Say My Name

I want to talk about this subject—the family and our time together—very quickly. Say my name, say my name. This past week, many celebrated a day that is known, at least in the western part of the world, as Valentine’s Day. It is a day where individuals go above and beyond their normal expressions of appreciation to uniquely demonstrate their love and affection for those who are significant in their lives. For some, this day was one of extreme satisfaction; for others, it may have been a day of deep disappointment. Someone wanted a night in, and they got a night out; someone wanted a night out, and they got a night in. Somebody wanted a necklace and received a bracelet; somebody wanted a ring and received a fling.

Don’t allow the images we are inundated with across social media to lead us to conclude that everyone had a victorious Valentine’s Day. Some people were deeply disappointed, and their disappointment doesn’t mean they are unappreciative. It may mean that they have a love language that was not being met. That love language may not have been fulfilled, not because someone had, listen to me, bad intentions, but because someone may have had poor execution. And some people—I don’t even have time for serious relationship talk—some people’s bad execution is based on bad information, as they are getting advice from everybody except for the person they are actually in a relationship with. Am I making sense here? I said, am I making sense here? Yes, some people were disappointed because they are dealing with someone who is unaware of and unresponsive to their love language.

As it is with people, so it is with God. God has a love language, and that love language is worship. He has articulated to us the importance of worship, not because it benefits Him, but because it benefits us. What do you mean, Darius? When you meet a person’s love language, you get exposed to a version of that person that nobody else gets. When you meet a person’s love language, they show up for you in ways they don’t show up for anybody else. And as it is with individuals, so it is with our eternal God. When God’s love language of worship is met, He shows up in ways He doesn’t for everybody else. An example of this is seen in 2 Chronicles 5:13, where it says the trumpeters and the musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to God, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments. The singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord God and said, «He is good; His love endures forever.» The Temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud—for the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

When God’s love language is met, He shows up in ways He doesn’t for anyone else. And when you receive this kind of expression from God, you not only get the expression itself; you also get what the expression brings with it. When you receive what I just mentioned in 2 Chronicles, you experience the presence of God, and it does three things. Here’s the first thing it does: it re-energizes the weary, because success requires stamina. And because the adversary is aware of this, you know what he does? When he can’t take you out, he tries to wear you down. Did you hear what I just said? The enemy is going to try to orchestrate one adverse event after another after another because he aims to wear down your spiritual stamina.

Here’s the word the Bible uses to describe spiritual stamina: virtue. Come on now! In Mark chapter 5, when that woman had an issue of blood, the Bible says there was a multitude of people following Jesus, reaching for Him and touching Him. But this woman said to herself, because sometimes you have to talk to yourself, «If I could but touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made whole.» She touched His garment, and Jesus stopped and said, «Who touched me?» The disciples replied, «What do you mean, who touched you? You see all of these people here; everybody’s touching you.» He said, «No, I felt virtue go out of me.» In other words, we can all be doing the same thing and not get the same result. When faith touched Him, it felt different!

Y’all aren’t hearing what I’m saying. We can all make noise in the sanctuary and not get the same result. When you raise your voice with a heart filled with appreciation and adoration for what God has done in your life, not only will He move; He’ll stop. Jesus said, «I felt virtue go out of me”—spiritual stamina. When the enemy came to take you out, he wore you down. A spiritual weapon of mass destruction is fatigue, and I’m not talking about fatigue in the body; I’m talking about fatigue in the soul. I’m talking about when your soul gets tired. I’m referring to when you get soul fatigue. You experience faith fatigue. What is faith fatigue? Faith fatigue is when you’ve been believing for so long that you become tired of believing. Is there anybody honest enough to talk back to me and say, „I had big faith on December 31st, but I have medium faith right now because I’m dealing with faith fatigue“?

However, when you have authentic encounters with the glory of God, it re-energizes you. Times of refreshing come from the Lord. When you are in the presence of God, you are…