Keion Henderson - Ready For Rain

Touch three people before you sit down and tell them, «I’m ready for rain.» You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. I’m ready for rain; I’m ready for rain. In my humble opinion— and it’s just me— I believe that Joel chapter 2:28 is one of the most powerful prophecies, if not the most powerful prophecy in the entire Bible. I know a lot of people will disagree with that, and there are, I think, the last time I read, 1,817 different prophecies in the Bible. I personally rank this one above the rest. Uh, and that’s a bold statement with 1,800 plus prophecies to adhere to, but I personally put this one above the rest, and that includes the prophecy stating that Jesus would be born of a virgin. Uh, I put this prophecy above the prophecy that said he would be born in Bethlehem. I put this prophecy above the prophecy that the children of Israel would walk in the wilderness, and then God turned around and immediately corrected it by saying, «But I’m also going to restore them to Myself.» All of those prophecies are powerful, but in my humble observation— it’s just my thinking— this one ranks slightly above the rest. Um, and it is because it is quoted not only by Joel but also by Peter in Acts chapter 2. If you read Acts chapter 2, most of us know it as an explanation of the day of Pentecost, but if you read it carefully and thoroughly and connect the dots, understanding that the Bible is not a monologue but a pluralistic view of the same story, then you’ll understand that actually Pentecost was the revelation of the prophecy of Joel. So when Joel said, «In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,» Pentecost was the beginning of that. What happens at Pentecost is that the believers came together in unity, and they were all on one accord. Are you with me so far? What we understand by that prophecy is it is a result and the initiation of what we call the church era. Everybody say, «The church era.» Now, we are moving from the Old Testament. Remember, they had to sacrifice lambs, and they had to sacrifice bullocks, and they had to sacrifice all these different things. We no longer have to do that. Why? Because Jesus is the Lamb of God. Jesus came as a one-time sacrifice. Every year, they had to go behind the Holy of Holies, and they had to sacrifice the lamb for the sins of Israel. Jesus said, «I am doing away with that.» You no longer need a high priest because I am the high priest. You no longer need a lamb to cover your sins because I’m going to die once, and this blood is going to cover all sins— past, present, and future. Isn’t that good news? Somebody? Okay, so Jesus becomes the high priest at Calvary. Everybody say, «The high priest.» What does that mean? The high priest was the only one who could go to God on behalf of the people. Jesus becomes the high priest and says, «You no longer need to go to a confessional. You no longer need a priest.» I am instituting the church era. The church era means that you don’t have to go through a person to get to Me; you can come to Me for yourself. Is that good news? That is as powerful and prolific as God is, that you have the ability to go to Him for yourself. That’s why I tell church people all the time, when you pray, you shouldn’t ask people to pray for you; you should ask people to pray with you. You don’t need anybody to pray for you; you need somebody to pray with you because if you have a relationship with God, you should be praying to God before you ask me to pray for you. Talk to me, somebody! Does anybody have a relationship with God where you didn’t know what you were saying? You didn’t know what was coming out of your mouth. It wasn’t eloquent; it wasn’t amazing, but you just put a whole bunch of words together, and if you sum them all up, it simply meant, «Lord, help me because I don’t know what I’m going to do.» Does anybody have that kind of relationship with God? The great thing about a relationship with God is you don’t have to put on makeup to start the conversation. You don’t have to get dressed to have the conversation. You don’t have to have a certain amount of money in the bank account. You don’t have to have a certain position. As a matter of fact, there are at least 300 of us in this room and about a thousand online that will say, «I came to Jesus just as I was.» I came with sin in my heart. I came with negative thoughts in my mind. I came not knowing what my vision was. I came not knowing what I was going to do next, but just a little talk with Jesus, I wish I had a church in here today, will make everything all right. Touch your neighbor and say, «God will do it. He’ll do it. He’ll do it.» This book, Joel, named after the author whose name is a Tetragrammaton, means that it is a reflection of God. Watch this; it actually means, «Yahweh is God.»