Then satan came in and tried to tempt him.  The king came to him and said, “Take the spoils.”

Richard Roberts says that Abraham said, “No, I will not even take a shoelace, lest you say you made Abraham rich.”

What he was saying was, “My eyes are on God and not on people.”  Have you noticed when you expect from people, they will let you down?  But God, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, will not let you down.  He knows who you are.  He knows where you live.  He knows what you’re going through, and He is most high, the possessor of heaven and earth, and the one who delivers you from all of your enemies.

Abraham said, “No, I won’t take your spoils, lest you say you made Abraham rich.”

He made a faith stand.  But not long afterwards, fear tried to grip his heart.  And God spoke to him, said, “Oh, yes, it’s me.  I’m your God.”

Then He said a curious word.  He said, “I a your shield.”  I have studied that word shield.  That word shield means, “I am your exceeding great reward.”  That’s what you call harvest.  Everybody say, “Harvest.”

Oral Roberts says that when you plant a seed, don’t you expect a harvest?  You grow beautiful crops in Nigeria.  Today as I drove, I saw the bananas that had just been picked.  And I saw the huge yams, yams this big!  You grow big yams in Nigeria, big yams.  Hold your hands out like this.  Say, yams, big yams.  They’re big.  Biggest yams I’ve ever seen.  And beautiful vegetables.  (Applause)

Anyone who plants a crop expects a harvest.  If you plant a banana tree, you expect bananas.  If you plant yams, you expect yams.  You don’t plant tomatoes and expect carrots.  You plant tomatoes, you expect tomatoes.  You plant carrots, you expect carrots.  You sow unto God, you have a right to expect Him to bring you the harvest.

Richard Roberts – And we exist to reach in, that is discipleship, developing our relationship with Christ.  Over the next three weeks we are going to talk about the purpose of our church.

Richard Roberts says that and God said to Abraham, “I am your exceeding great reward.”  That’s harvest.  Every time you sow a seed, if it’s your love, if it’s your time, if it’s your money, if it’s your prayers, if it’s a smile, if it’s a pat on the back, if it’s a hug, if it’s a good word, that’s a seed.  And you have a right to a harvest from God.

Put your hands together and give Him praise tonight.  (Applause)  For He is most high.  He’s the possessor of heaven and earth.  And He’s the one who delivers you from all of your enemies.

Oral Roberts says that number three, know that Jesus took the stripes on His back for your healing.  Every stripe was for a sickness and disease. With every lash, the stripe was for sickness.  They meant it for harm, but God meant it for healing.

Medical science today has put sickness and disease in thirty-nine categories.  Isn’t it amazing that medical science and the Bible are in harmony?  For He took thirty-nine stripes on His back.  Those thirty-nine stripes represent every type of sickness and disease.

Lindsay Roberts stated that Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil.  And He hasn’t changed.  He said, “I am the same yesterday, today, and forever.  So what He did, He’s still doing.  What He did in Jerusalem, He’s still doing.  What He did in Jericho, He’s still doing.  What He did at the pool of Bethesda, He’s still doing.  What He did in Bethsaida, He’s still doing.  What He did in Bethany, He’s still doing.  What He did in Nazareth, He’s still doing.  What He did on the first night of the crusade and the second night and the third night, He’ll do tonight in Ibadan.  Wave your hand and give praise unto the Lord.  He took the stripes on His back.  He’s a healing Jesus.

Number four, expect a new miracle every day.  Not just a miracle, but a new miracle and expect it every day.  It’s one thing to say, “I expect a miracle,” but it’s another thing to say, “I expect a new miracle every day.”

Richard Roberts – Today we are talking about the wonder of worship.  If you apply and incorporate worship into your life, your deepest, that’s right, your deepest needs will be met.

Richard Roberts says that Lord, this is so simple.”  And He said to me, “I am not complicated.”  He said, “You people make me complicated, but I am not complicated.  I am simple.”

Don’t complicate it up.  You know, if the recipe doesn’t call for all these other ingredients, don’t use them.  Don’t mess up my beans and cornbread by putting the wrong thing in it.

And we Christians can foul things up so quickly if we just don’t follow His simple instructions.  He said, “I am going to speak to ten people at $5,000.”

Lindsay Roberts stated that Richard, your ministry, the Oral Roberts Ministry, is to be number one.  You sow because you’re facing a need.”  I said, “I am facing a need, Lord.”  He said, “You sow the first, so you be the first of the ten.”  I said, “Okay.  I’ll do this.”  I’m making a pledge right now.  Our ministry will be the first $5,000 pledge.

Then He said, “I will speak to nine others, and they will be calling in.”  He said, “I will speak to thirty people at $1,000.”  And then He said, “I will speak to 200 people at $100.”  He said, “Tonight you declare a $100,000 Cornerstone divine moment.”  And so I’m going to do it.  It’s not complicated.  It’s not difficult.

Right now is the best time for you to sow, not tomorrow.  You can’t sow yesterday.  The only unit of time you have is now, right now.  He’s a right-now God who deals with your right-now seed.

And so tonight I’m going to pray.  And as I pray, the Holy Spirit is going to begin speaking in people’s hearts.  He’s going to speak to nine others to make a gift or pledge of $5,000.  He’s going to speak to thirty people—could be a man, a woman, a couple, could be a family, could be a business, a ministry—He’s going to speak to thirty of you at $1,000 each.  And He’s going to speak to 200 of you at $100 each.

Richard Roberts  – Let’s jump right into worship and look at the definition of this subject.  A lot of people have a muddy thought process regarding the implications of worship and what it really means.

Richard Roberts says that how can she have given more than them all?  She gave so little, and they gave so much.”  He said, “She gave out of her want,” or she gave out of her need.

Well, the first thought that crossed my mind concerning a divine moment is, what need are you facing tonight?  Now when we’re headed toward $5-a-gallon gasoline, there’s going to be a problem in the natural in the United States.  If that happens, it’s going to slow commerce down.  It’s going to slow business down.

Oral Roberts says that and when you have what appears to be a recession coming, that’s when people do the absolute worst thing they could possibly do.  They turn God off, and they look to their natural circumstances.  “I can’t afford to do this.”

It reminds me of the story—I don’t know if you ever heard it—my dad used to tell it about this guy who was earning $70 a week, and he began to tithe.  He was giving his $7.  And he was doing just fine.  And God began to increase him, and suddenly he was making $700 a week.  And so he gave his $70 tithe.  And he was doing fine, and then God took him up to $7,000 a week.

And he realized his tithe was $700.  And he said, “Wow!  I can’t afford to give $700 a week.  That’s just too much.”

So he went to his pastor, said, “Pastor, I have a problem.”  “What’s your problem?”  He said, “Well, I was fine, you know, before with a $7 tithe and a $70 tithe, but now it’s a $700 tithe.  What do I do?  I don’t know what to do.  I can’t afford it.”

The pastor said, “I know how to solve your problem.  Get down on your knees.”  And he did.  He laid his hands on him, said, “God, he has such a problem now.  He was okay when he was giving $7.  He was okay when he was giving $70.  But now that it’s a $700 tithe, he just can’t handle it.  So would You please take him back to $70 a week so he can afford to give $70?”

Richard Roberts – Worship can be defined as expressing love to God for who He is, for what He said and for what He is doing.

Richard Roberts stated that in the name of Jesus, every lung condition, open up and be healed.  Bronchial tubes, open up.  All this emphysema, all of the asthma, all of the lung condition, even those of you who have had a lung removed and you’re about to lose your other lung.  In the name of Jesus, I send the word to you tonight for healing.

Yeah, yeah, now He’s going to heal crippled legs.  In the authority of the name of Jesus, there’s healing going into legs.  There’s healing going into legs.  There’s healing.

It makes me feel like I’m back in Niger.  I was in Africa this year, 20 cripples were healed the first night of the crusade.  I had armloads of crutches and canes.  And God’s doing the same thing now on TBN

In Jesus’ name, every crippled limb, in the name of Jesus—here it comes—be healed.  I send His word to you tonight for healing, crippled legs, crippled arms, arthritis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, brittleness, be healed, every muscle, every bone, every joint, from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet with Oral Roberts.

And, also, you who are suffering with ulcers, every time you eat, I won’t call it what you call it, but in the name of Jesus I come against that thing that just backs up.  It backs your whole system up.  Yeah, I’m talking about colons and intestines.  I’m talking about gall bladders.  I’m talking about kidneys and liver.  You’re just blocked up.

Richard Roberts – I am going to break our session today into two parts.  In the first part we will look at seven characteristics of our worship here at the Fellowship.