Why You Are Exhausted and How to Win the War Within

You crossed lines before that you thought would make you happy. You had these goals in your mind. You told yourself, One day, when I finally marry that man, I’ll have joy. When I finally get that new house, or that new apartment, or a new zip code, I’ll have peace. But if you are anything like me, you crossed those lines and realized you are no happier than you were before you crossed them.

The outside changed, but the inside hasn't.

Right now, you are unusually tired. You are exhausted all the time. It feels like the constant drip of a leaky faucet. A singular drip is not a big deal, but years of that drip—the pressure of living in America, the constant comparison on social media where you feel like a failure before you even get out of bed—slowly consumes you. You get better at fulfilling the American dream than God's vision.

We have to stop trying to change our zip codes and start allowing the Holy Spirit to change our minds.

It is time to lock in. While the church has been asleep receiving motivational speeches in the form of sermons, a war has been waging. You were born on a battlefield, and you do not have the option to opt-out. If the only fighting you do is against your own flesh or your finances, you are still drinking the milk of the word. We have to graduate to fighting the enemy.

As Pastor Mike Signorelli, I declared this exact framework over our congregation: "If it's a demon, it's defeated. If it's a weakness, it must be developed. And if it's a stronghold or a habit, it must be demolished."

Here are the four keys to locking in and winning the war within:

1. Defeat the Demonic Through Deliverance

Demons are not a mood, and they are not a metaphor. They are personalities without a body that want your body. And for those of you who say you don’t need deliverance because you’ve been going to church for years, think again. The demon that is not exposed is the demon that remains.

When Jesus was confronted with the demonic, He didn’t ask them if they confessed Him as Lord. He commanded them to come out. It happens through confrontation, not just confession. You have to stop playing with the enemy. In 2 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul reminds us that though we walk in physical bodies, we are not waging war according to the flesh. We have divine power to destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. You cannot partially defeat lust. You cannot manage and control anxiety. You have to destroy it before it destroys you.

2. Develop Your Weaknesses Through Discipline

Once you get deliverance, you cannot blame the demon anymore. If you are not being spiritually fed, you are being emotionally led. Weaknesses are developed through the hard, narrow road of discipline.

How do you do this? The very first thing you do when you wake up is not feed your flesh—it is break your flesh. I know you want to grab your gratitude journal and look out the window, but your flesh is waking up fully rested and ready to sabotage your entire life. You have to wake up and rebuke it. Tell your flesh it will be surrendered to the will of the Father today. If you wake up and do not crucify the flesh, it will crucify you.

If you can wake up and grab your phone, you can wake up and go to the throne.

3. Demolish Strongholds Through Devotion

Strongholds and habits are demolished through devotion. Devotion is a sustained focus on the heart. I am challenging you to a new habit: the 5-5-5. Every single day, give God five minutes in the Bible, five minutes in prayer, and five minutes in silence.

When I was in Israel, they led us to the empty tomb where Jesus Christ walked out three days after being martyred. Standing just feet away from Golgotha, taking communion from a little wooden cup with my name on it, I was overwhelmed by the voice of condemnation. I thought about how short I fall and how little my life matters compared to the cross.

But as I wept, the Lord brought Psalm 106 to my mind. He reminded me that He saves us for His name’s sake. God did not save you because you would ever be good enough. He saved you to prove how good He really is. Your devotion is simply your daily surrender to that goodness.

4. Fan the Flame When You Want to Quit

In 2 Timothy 1, Paul tells Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God inside of him, reminding him that God gave us a spirit of power, love, and self-control, not a spirit of fear.

You have to learn to fan the flame when you feel like it, and when you don't. If you are relying more on caffeine than the Holy Ghost, get out of the drive-thru lane and get into your prayer closet.

I know what it looks like when that flame has almost gone out. My mother was a single mom raising us on welfare. I remember the day she reached her absolute breaking point. She got us dressed, put our coats and hats on, and wept as she buttoned us up. She had made the decision to surrender us to social services because she couldn't take the pressure anymore.

But in that exact moment, the Holy Spirit gave her a revelation. She dried her tears, unbuttoned our coats, and decided she wasn't going to give up. She chose to fan the flame. Today, you know her as Pastor Moses. Because she didn't quit, her son is now preaching the gospel and reaching millions.

Your final destination is not suffering; in the end, you win.

I am calling you to step onto the battlefield. Do not be a mall cop Christian who walks around acting tough but carries no badge. You have been given authority to tread on serpents and scorpions. Stop making excuses. Stop hiding in the shadows of exhaustion.

Wake up tomorrow, break your flesh, start your 5-5-5, and go to war for your family, your city, and your future. Join the Great Lock In.

If this resonated, watch the full series at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtyymG6QlTpcjh3doXchdb650wtRRoFX-&si=UUlxcRW3CvrfG5JW

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