WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:10.259 Elation Church. Week number four in a series 00:00:10.259 --> 00:00:13.259 that we've entitled Powerful Prayer. Everybody 00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:19.940 say powerful prayer. Here's the deal. There is 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:24.519 powerless prayer. And there is powerful prayer. 00:00:27.379 --> 00:00:31.109 There's powerless prayer. And there's powerful 00:00:31.109 --> 00:00:37.590 prayer. So, today we're going to kind of look 00:00:37.590 --> 00:00:39.509 at the things that we've talked about that makes 00:00:39.509 --> 00:00:43.070 our prayer powerless, as well as looking at the 00:00:43.070 --> 00:00:47.929 next line of the Lord's Prayer. So if you haven't 00:00:47.929 --> 00:00:49.850 been here the last three weeks, you're going 00:00:49.850 --> 00:00:53.969 to get a good catch up. And if you would like 00:00:53.969 --> 00:00:56.609 to know more about the little things I'm going 00:00:56.609 --> 00:00:59.600 to say about each week, It's all on podcasts. 00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:03.039 Just look up Galatian Church on any podcast platform. 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:08.480 Look at YouTube. All right? These former messages 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:13.120 are posted there. Many Christians pray but seldom 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:17.900 see results. I believe all of us at times have 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:22.480 prayed and then we feel like we haven't seen 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:26.840 results from our prayer. Now, you can put on 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:30.290 your... church halo, Christian halo, and act 00:01:30.290 --> 00:01:33.689 like, oh, well, my prayers, I've always seen 00:01:33.689 --> 00:01:35.969 results for every prayer that I've ever prayed. 00:01:37.849 --> 00:01:44.329 The Bible does say liars won't be there. Anyway. 00:01:45.650 --> 00:01:49.150 So let's just be honest with each other. But 00:01:49.150 --> 00:01:51.709 this is what the Bible says in James 5, 16. Listen 00:01:51.709 --> 00:01:55.829 to what the Word of God says. The earnest prayer. 00:01:56.810 --> 00:02:01.950 of a righteous person has great power and produces 00:02:01.950 --> 00:02:13.889 wonderful results. Since this is the Bible, do 00:02:13.889 --> 00:02:21.889 you think God wants to answer our prayers? How 00:02:21.889 --> 00:02:23.370 many righteous people are in the room? Raise 00:02:23.370 --> 00:02:24.770 your hand if you're righteous. Raise it up high, 00:02:24.849 --> 00:02:26.900 quickly. Raise it up high. Raise it up high. 00:02:27.139 --> 00:02:32.960 Come on. Some of you are not raising your hand. 00:02:37.340 --> 00:02:43.400 The Bible says, the Bible says, everybody say 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:46.060 the Bible. I should have this verse up here. 00:02:46.139 --> 00:02:49.099 I just wasn't planning on hammering it that hard, 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:53.460 but that's just what came out. The Bible says 00:02:53.460 --> 00:03:00.800 that we, are the righteousness of God in Christ 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:06.939 Jesus. So here's what that means. If you are 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:14.020 in Christ, if you have come to Jesus and confessed 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:17.759 your sin, ask him to forgive you. If you have 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:20.439 called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:24.000 which is not just a name by word, It's a name 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.900 by relationship. If you have called on the Lord 00:03:26.900 --> 00:03:29.439 Jesus Christ, meaning that you have confessed 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:37.219 him as your Lord, you know what that means? That 00:03:37.219 --> 00:03:43.539 you've surrendered ownership rights. Your ownership 00:03:43.539 --> 00:03:45.319 rights, you've surrendered those, you've laid 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:48.599 those down, and you have given yourself to Christ. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:55.120 And you want to follow him. I'm not saying that 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:57.460 you have followed him perfectly since you made 00:03:57.460 --> 00:04:01.580 that confession. But that is the desire of your 00:04:01.580 --> 00:04:04.419 heart that you want to follow Jesus and live 00:04:04.419 --> 00:04:08.639 for Jesus. You want him to be Lord, master, boss 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:11.860 of your life. You figured out that you can't 00:04:11.860 --> 00:04:14.840 run it the way it needs to be run on your own. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.500 Come on, somebody, help me out. You don't need 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:24.319 to be. in charge of your own life anymore. You 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.319 need Jesus to be in charge of your life. You 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:29.839 want to follow him. Well, if you have done that, 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:36.959 then you are in Christ and you are now the righteousness 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.420 of God in Christ Jesus. This is what happens 00:04:40.420 --> 00:04:43.540 at salvation. We take off our filthy rags, our 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:47.779 unrighteousness, and then Jesus clothes us in 00:04:47.779 --> 00:04:51.410 his robe of righteousness. So when God looks 00:04:51.410 --> 00:04:56.029 at us, when we're in Christ, He sees the blood 00:04:56.029 --> 00:05:00.550 of Christ. He sees forgiveness. He sees that 00:05:00.550 --> 00:05:04.129 we are now in right standing. We are righteous 00:05:04.129 --> 00:05:11.189 when we're in Christ. So don't be scared to raise 00:05:11.189 --> 00:05:14.529 your hand if somebody asks you if you're righteous. 00:05:16.209 --> 00:05:19.420 See, I'm... I'm clothed in Jesus' righteousness, 00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:28.180 not mine. And if you're not in Christ, you can 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:31.860 be in Christ today. You can become the righteousness 00:05:31.860 --> 00:05:34.180 of God in Christ Jesus today. This can happen 00:05:34.180 --> 00:05:37.699 today. Today is the day, is what the Bible says. 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:44.790 So, if we are in Christ, we are righteous. So 00:05:44.790 --> 00:05:48.110 the earnest prayer of a righteous person has 00:05:48.110 --> 00:05:53.149 great power and produces wonderful results. I 00:05:53.149 --> 00:05:55.850 memorize it as the effectual fervent prayer of 00:05:55.850 --> 00:06:00.470 the righteous man avails much is the way I memorize 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:06.250 it. Anybody else memorize it that way? It's an 00:06:06.250 --> 00:06:14.370 efficient prayer. It's an effective prayer. This 00:06:14.370 --> 00:06:21.129 is hinging on how we pray. And get this. If we 00:06:21.129 --> 00:06:24.110 pray like Jesus told us to pray, it's going to 00:06:24.110 --> 00:06:30.430 be earnest, effective, effectual, fervent. It's 00:06:30.430 --> 00:06:33.029 going to fit that category. And when it fits 00:06:33.029 --> 00:06:34.910 that category, it's going to produce wonderful 00:06:34.910 --> 00:06:40.370 results in your life. Who believes the Word of 00:06:40.370 --> 00:06:46.129 God? I didn't write this. This is God's word 00:06:46.129 --> 00:06:49.689 for you today. The earnest prayer of a righteous 00:06:49.689 --> 00:06:52.810 person has great power and produces wonderful 00:06:52.810 --> 00:06:59.509 results. We shouldn't expect anything else than 00:06:59.509 --> 00:07:10.189 wonderful results. We're not... Throwing hopes, 00:07:10.269 --> 00:07:14.769 oh hopes, up to the sky to see if they'll hit. 00:07:16.769 --> 00:07:20.230 When we're praying like Jesus told us to pray. 00:07:21.050 --> 00:07:24.490 Why do people seldom see results? Why do so many 00:07:24.490 --> 00:07:28.110 people seldom see results? Well, we've talked 00:07:28.110 --> 00:07:30.290 about a lot of those things during this series. 00:07:30.889 --> 00:07:33.589 And like I said, if you need more, just go listen 00:07:33.589 --> 00:07:38.209 to it. It's there. It takes us a lot of time 00:07:38.209 --> 00:07:41.550 and costs us money for it to be there. So it's 00:07:41.550 --> 00:07:46.069 available to you. Jesus said, when they said, 00:07:46.189 --> 00:07:48.870 hey, Master, teach us how to pray, because we 00:07:48.870 --> 00:07:51.230 see that you have a powerful prayer life. We 00:07:51.230 --> 00:07:53.850 see that you are getting wonderful results when 00:07:53.850 --> 00:07:57.470 you pray, that you are empowered every time you 00:07:57.470 --> 00:08:00.230 get alone by yourself to pray, and you come back, 00:08:00.230 --> 00:08:03.629 it's like you've been energized and recharged. 00:08:06.279 --> 00:08:10.399 So Jesus says, when you pray, don't be like the 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:13.939 hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street 00:08:13.939 --> 00:08:16.439 corners and in the synagogues where everyone 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:21.600 can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:28.439 the reward they will ever get. Pharisees and 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:32.720 Sadducees, I mean, they want to make sure everybody 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:36.480 heard them when they pray. It was an expression 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:42.240 of their super spirituality. You know, it'd be 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.480 like somebody today just standing up and talking 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.480 real loud to God, like they're just talking, 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.220 just them, just them communicating with God, 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:53.980 but all of a sudden they put on this old English 00:08:53.980 --> 00:09:00.340 in there. Every word ends with an S -T or a T 00:09:00.340 --> 00:09:12.419 -H. Every you is a thy or a thou. Trying to show 00:09:12.419 --> 00:09:15.659 off. I want to pray so that you will be amazed 00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:20.799 at how spiritual I am. Jesus said, don't pray 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:22.899 like that. He said, that's hypocritical prayer. 00:09:25.179 --> 00:09:28.940 Hypocrite is a play actor. Means that you put 00:09:28.940 --> 00:09:31.179 on a different mask. Don't ever put on a different 00:09:31.179 --> 00:09:37.059 mask to pray. Don't begin to act like a different 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:42.019 character than you normally are when you begin 00:09:42.019 --> 00:09:48.279 to talk to God. That's what a hypocrite is. Jesus 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:50.600 said, but when you pray, go away by yourself. 00:09:50.659 --> 00:09:53.159 Shut the door behind you and pray to your Father 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:57.240 in private. Then your Father who sees everything 00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:04.379 will reward you. If the only time you're going 00:10:04.379 --> 00:10:06.600 to pray is when you're in public where everybody 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:12.019 else can see you pray, just stop. Just stop. 00:10:12.940 --> 00:10:17.240 That's the only time you talk to God. Because 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:19.500 you're not really talking to him. It's not powerful 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:24.980 prayer. Powerful prayer is not a public display 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:30.940 of your super spirituality. Jesus said this. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:34.460 He said, when you pray, So that's powerless prayer, 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:36.159 by the way. If you want to know what powerless 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:40.659 prayer is, prayer with no power, it's when you 00:10:40.659 --> 00:10:43.860 try to pray as a public display to make people 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:48.399 think how spiritual you are. Don't ever say, 00:10:48.460 --> 00:10:50.379 let's pray about that, if you never pray about 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:57.799 anything when you're by yourself. Verse 7. Somebody 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:03.700 smile. Jesus said, when you pray, Don't babble 00:11:03.700 --> 00:11:08.039 on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:10.039 are answered merely by repeating their words 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:15.440 again and again and again and again. Look at 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:18.779 the person beside you and say, don't do it. Powerful 00:11:18.779 --> 00:11:23.600 prayer is not, listen, it's not mindless, meaningless 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:31.480 repetition. It's okay to teach our children to 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:34.360 pray by giving them some memorized prayers to 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:37.539 pray. But if that's the only way you're praying 00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:46.139 as an adult, you've got a long way to go. It's 00:11:46.139 --> 00:11:48.559 time to break free. Look at the person beside 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:50.759 you and tell them, break free. We're talking 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:57.759 with God. Hello? Listen to yourself pray. If 00:11:57.759 --> 00:11:59.460 every time you pray, you're just saying the same 00:11:59.460 --> 00:12:06.620 thing again, Is it mindless, meaningless repetition? 00:12:09.139 --> 00:12:11.879 Well, it is. It's always mindless, meaningless 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:19.840 repetition if you do not speak to God from your 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:23.100 heart. If you're just speaking to God from your 00:12:23.100 --> 00:12:26.679 head, memorize just going through the motions, 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:33.139 going through religious motions, it's powerless. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:38.659 Everybody say powerless. Jesus said in verse 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:41.220 8, don't be like them for your father knows exactly 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:50.340 what you need even before you ask him. Powerful 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:54.440 prayer is not, everybody say not, is not begging 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:58.820 God to do what you want him to do. And I think 00:12:58.820 --> 00:13:01.929 that's where most people's prayer life is. We're 00:13:01.929 --> 00:13:04.190 just begging God to do something that we want 00:13:04.190 --> 00:13:07.909 Him to do. We're praying ignorantly. We don't 00:13:07.909 --> 00:13:10.029 know what His promises are. We don't know who 00:13:10.029 --> 00:13:12.429 He is. We don't know what He wants to do. All 00:13:12.429 --> 00:13:15.429 we know is what we want, and we want it now, 00:13:15.629 --> 00:13:20.049 so we're going to beg Him. Prayer's not begging. 00:13:21.509 --> 00:13:26.549 Powerful prayer's not begging. Somebody smile. 00:13:27.409 --> 00:13:30.970 I know you're thinking really hard. Maybe that's 00:13:30.970 --> 00:13:34.149 what you thought prayer was. But prayer is more 00:13:34.149 --> 00:13:37.629 than that. Look to the person beside you and 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:39.289 say, prayer is more than that. Prayer is more 00:13:39.289 --> 00:13:43.309 than that. Powerful prayer is not talking at 00:13:43.309 --> 00:13:50.370 God. It's talking with God. Powerful prayer is 00:13:50.370 --> 00:13:53.210 not just you doing all the talking and just rattling 00:13:53.210 --> 00:13:55.409 off, I want this, I want this, God do this, please 00:13:55.409 --> 00:13:57.350 do this, please give me this, give me that, give 00:13:57.350 --> 00:13:59.289 me that, give them this, give them that, give 00:13:59.289 --> 00:14:10.250 them that, and follow me around today. Bye. Has 00:14:10.250 --> 00:14:12.250 anybody ever prayed like that? Not with those 00:14:12.250 --> 00:14:18.009 words, but that's what you are saying. I've said 00:14:18.009 --> 00:14:23.009 it too many times. Well, that's not powerful 00:14:23.009 --> 00:14:30.409 prayer. We're talking with God. We're opening 00:14:30.409 --> 00:14:35.090 up His Word. We're spending time to listen. It's 00:14:35.090 --> 00:14:37.149 not just one -way communication. It's two -way 00:14:37.149 --> 00:14:44.919 communication. Hey, if you're in Christ, God 00:14:44.919 --> 00:14:48.399 is in your spirit. He's connected to your spirit. 00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:51.720 He's on the inside of you. And he wants to talk 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:54.659 to you. The Bible says we're supposed to walk 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:59.080 in him and live in him and have our being in 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:04.039 him. Hello? Somebody say in him. How are we going 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:08.340 to do that if we're not in communication with 00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:21.879 him? Somebody give me the V8 thing. So, that 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:26.299 was most of week one. Here we go, week two. Jesus 00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:28.799 said, after he gave us those instructions of 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:32.659 powerless prayer and what powerful prayer is 00:15:32.659 --> 00:15:36.379 and what powerless prayer is, he says, pray like 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:43.049 this. Pray like this, and this lines up. Before 00:15:43.049 --> 00:15:44.850 this is over, I'm going to give you the word 00:15:44.850 --> 00:15:46.789 study that I've been working on this week because 00:15:46.789 --> 00:15:49.090 that effectual fervent prayer of the righteous 00:15:49.090 --> 00:15:51.470 man just lines right up with what Jeffrey said 00:15:51.470 --> 00:15:55.250 last week. So it makes your prayer powerful and 00:15:55.250 --> 00:15:58.169 effective where you will see wonderful results. 00:15:58.809 --> 00:16:02.529 Just the language just matches right up beautifully. 00:16:04.110 --> 00:16:08.649 Jesus said, pray like this. Did he say pray this? 00:16:10.610 --> 00:16:15.480 Somebody say no. even though I've had people 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:18.600 get mad at me because I don't say, and let's 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:20.600 pray together as the Lord taught us to pray. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.919 Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:26.539 name. I've had people get mad at me because we 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:30.000 didn't do that every service. But Jesus did not 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:36.440 say pray this. He said pray like this. Pray like 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:38.779 this. The Lord's Prayer is a pattern. Everybody 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:41.279 say a pattern. It's a guide. Everybody say guide. 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.500 It's a model. Everybody say model. It's a pattern, 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:48.740 God, and model for our praying to be effectual 00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:54.860 and fervent and see wonderful results. Pray like 00:16:54.860 --> 00:17:00.299 this. Our Father in heaven, may your name be 00:17:00.299 --> 00:17:06.420 kept holy. How do we keep his name holy? By his 00:17:06.420 --> 00:17:10.539 name being special to us. By us cherishing his 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:14.769 name. It's not just words coming out of our mouth. 00:17:16.569 --> 00:17:22.990 It's originating in our heart, in our soul, and 00:17:22.990 --> 00:17:26.309 going into our mind, our will, and our emotions. 00:17:29.730 --> 00:17:35.630 Do we really cherish God? We did a whole series 00:17:35.630 --> 00:17:40.369 on the names of God, right? We have a lot of 00:17:40.369 --> 00:17:46.740 names. Names give us identity, helps us to differentiate 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:50.039 between each other. Some names are relationship 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:55.500 names. Like that name Lord that I said a few 00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:57.900 minutes ago, that's a relationship name. It's 00:17:57.900 --> 00:18:00.160 not a proper name. Jesus is his proper name. 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:10.440 And Christ is an activity name. He's the empowered 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:13.660 one. The anointed one. That's what Christ means. 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:17.700 It's not an identity name, it's an activity name. 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:24.700 So, we went through all of those names, and we 00:18:24.700 --> 00:18:26.140 didn't even cover them all, but we went through 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:29.559 all of those in week, I can't remember what week, 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:35.099 week two. We backtracked and looked at all those 00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:38.789 names that the Bible tells us who God is. what 00:18:38.789 --> 00:18:42.230 kind of relationship he wants to be in with us, 00:18:42.269 --> 00:18:48.809 and what he does, his activity. And we didn't 00:18:48.809 --> 00:18:51.210 do that just for more head knowledge. We didn't 00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:53.690 go through all that just so we could be smarter. 00:18:57.849 --> 00:19:01.930 It works right in with our prayer life. If we 00:19:01.930 --> 00:19:05.210 want to have powerful prayer life, we've got 00:19:05.210 --> 00:19:08.700 to... honor him, honor his name, cherish his 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:11.220 name. His name has to be special to us. We're 00:19:11.220 --> 00:19:16.940 keeping it holy. And in the names of his activity 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:19.859 and his relationship, when we begin to pray for 00:19:19.859 --> 00:19:24.059 something that lines up with who he is, hello? 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:33.619 That's powerful and effective prayer. So what 00:19:33.619 --> 00:19:36.569 do you need God to do for you? Do you need him 00:19:36.569 --> 00:19:39.990 to provide something for you? Well, you better 00:19:39.990 --> 00:19:43.890 start making his name El Shaddai be precious 00:19:43.890 --> 00:19:48.650 to you. Come on, somebody. You better start making 00:19:48.650 --> 00:19:52.569 his name Yahweh Jireh be special to you. You 00:19:52.569 --> 00:19:55.529 got to cherish it. That's who he is. That's my 00:19:55.529 --> 00:20:00.549 daddy. Hello? That's my father who gave me life. 00:20:02.049 --> 00:20:06.930 And his name is special to me. If you need some 00:20:06.930 --> 00:20:10.150 peace, you better be going to Yahweh Shalom. 00:20:10.349 --> 00:20:15.329 He's one God, but he tells us what he wants to 00:20:15.329 --> 00:20:18.529 do for us and who he is for us. If you want some 00:20:18.529 --> 00:20:22.589 peace, you better start praying by honoring his 00:20:22.589 --> 00:20:25.509 name, by letting him know that his name is special 00:20:25.509 --> 00:20:31.009 to you. You are Yahweh Shalom. You are my peace. 00:20:31.769 --> 00:20:38.019 Hello? That becomes powerful prayer. Unlike, 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:42.880 oh God, I'm so twisted and I'm so messed up. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:45.200 God, please, please, please. Please, God, I need 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:49.660 some peace. I just don't know if I'm going to 00:20:49.660 --> 00:20:51.900 make it. If you don't give me peace, I'm done. 00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:54.700 I've got to have it. I don't know. I'm just in 00:20:54.700 --> 00:20:57.680 so much turmoil, God. Please give me some peace. 00:21:00.599 --> 00:21:04.130 That's a beggar prayer. That's a powerless prayer. 00:21:05.809 --> 00:21:15.650 Hello? I prayed like that. So powerful prayer 00:21:15.650 --> 00:21:19.089 begins with God's name being special to you. 00:21:19.930 --> 00:21:25.089 You cherishing his name and calling on his name. 00:21:26.390 --> 00:21:29.130 Father, you are the one who gives me life and 00:21:29.130 --> 00:21:33.019 you are. Yahweh shalom. You are my peace, God. 00:21:34.700 --> 00:21:38.339 So I'm declaring who you are. Everybody say declaring. 00:21:42.380 --> 00:21:46.599 Next verse. May your kingdom come soon. May your 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:51.619 will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What 00:21:51.619 --> 00:21:55.279 does this tell us? God's will is not being done 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:59.779 on earth. It's messed up. Everybody say messed 00:21:59.779 --> 00:22:04.759 up. It's broken. Sin broke it. Sin messed it 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:13.460 up. So what is Jesus telling us to do? He's telling 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:18.759 us when we pray, we need to connect to God's 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:21.619 will and how that's being let out in heaven and 00:22:21.619 --> 00:22:25.640 how that is told to us. His will, we find it 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:29.359 in His word. And his will is perfect in heaven. 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:37.359 It's happening perfectly in heaven. Your will 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:41.880 be done, your kingdom come on earth as it is 00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:46.119 in heaven. So prayer is declaring heavenly realities. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.140 If you missed last week, you've got to listen 00:22:52.140 --> 00:22:54.619 to it. I've already listened to it four more 00:22:54.619 --> 00:22:58.039 times. And I plan on listening to it some more. 00:23:02.420 --> 00:23:04.740 And I've got the full notes and the full PowerPoint. 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:12.900 But I want God's word planted in my heart. I 00:23:12.900 --> 00:23:17.099 want my faith to rise. Faith comes by hearing 00:23:17.099 --> 00:23:26.069 and hearing by the word of God. Hello? So powerful 00:23:26.069 --> 00:23:29.329 prayer, everybody say powerful prayer, is declaring 00:23:29.329 --> 00:23:34.390 heavenly realities into our temporal, physical 00:23:34.390 --> 00:23:43.289 realm. And it continues. I'm going to use that 00:23:43.289 --> 00:23:46.970 in just a minute. In verse 11, Jesus said, give 00:23:46.970 --> 00:23:52.450 us today the food we need. Jesus is not saying 00:23:52.450 --> 00:23:56.799 to say, oh God. I'm so hungry. I need some food. 00:23:57.460 --> 00:23:59.359 Please, please, please, God, give me some food. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:05.420 God, please give me food. Everybody say, in Christ, 00:24:05.740 --> 00:24:14.000 I'm not a beggar. I'm a child of God. I never 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:18.140 had to beg my daddy for something to eat. Now, 00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:21.539 you may have. If you didn't have a good father, 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:24.650 you might have had to beg. Your mom and dad, 00:24:24.769 --> 00:24:27.390 oh please mom and dad, please let me eat today. 00:24:33.670 --> 00:24:41.349 I'm sorry that you had sorry parents. If you 00:24:41.349 --> 00:24:46.950 had to beg to eat as a baby, beg. I'm sorry. 00:24:48.809 --> 00:24:53.240 But don't. Put your bad experience with bad parents. 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:57.220 Don't be putting that on God. He's a good father. 00:24:58.920 --> 00:25:01.440 He's a lot better than the best father that's 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:03.400 ever walked on this earth. He's a lot better 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:08.160 than that. He's a good God. He's a good father. 00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:13.980 So we're not begging. We're declaring the realities 00:25:13.980 --> 00:25:17.220 of heaven. Powerful prayer is based on, get this, 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:20.910 is based on appropriating. who we are and what 00:25:20.910 --> 00:25:28.430 we have in Christ. Everybody say in Christ. Can 00:25:28.430 --> 00:25:36.390 you begin to see how powerless prayer is when 00:25:36.390 --> 00:25:39.509 we talk to God and His name is not special to 00:25:39.509 --> 00:25:45.630 us and we don't know what His will is? And we 00:25:45.630 --> 00:25:50.069 don't know what he has provided for us. Hello, 00:25:50.130 --> 00:25:55.049 come on. We don't know what we have in Christ. 00:25:55.450 --> 00:26:00.450 The promises of God, we don't know them. We don't 00:26:00.450 --> 00:26:06.730 know who we are in Christ. All that equals powerless 00:26:06.730 --> 00:26:14.490 prayer. Powerful prayer is based on appropriating. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:17.400 Who we are and what we have in Christ. What He 00:26:17.400 --> 00:26:20.640 has promised us. What He has already given us. 00:26:21.700 --> 00:26:24.880 So many times we're begging God for something 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:28.700 that He's already given us. It's already yours. 00:26:33.059 --> 00:26:35.940 It's just like the illustration Jeffrey used 00:26:35.940 --> 00:26:40.420 last week. It's like using a debit card. When 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:42.380 you go to the store and you get some stuff, I 00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:45.680 mean... If you're like me, you don't carry around 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:49.720 cash to pay for a meal or pay for your groceries. 00:26:49.779 --> 00:26:56.000 You got a debit card. And when it comes time 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:59.920 to pay the bill, you don't say, oops, I don't 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:05.680 have any money. You pull out your debit card 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:10.880 that you know, everybody say you know, you pull 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:14.460 out your debit card that you know, that what's 00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:19.119 in the bank is yours. Come on, somebody. You 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:23.880 know it's yours. You know you have it. But you 00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:25.859 don't have to drive to the bank and make a withdrawal 00:27:25.859 --> 00:27:27.859 and come back. No, you just pull out that debit 00:27:27.859 --> 00:27:33.579 card and you make a demand on the bank to pay 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:45.539 these people from your account. Hello? Now, if 00:27:45.539 --> 00:27:48.519 you never know what's in your bank account and 00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:50.779 you're pulling out your debit card like it's 00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:53.759 Russian roulette and you're like, well, try this 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:58.819 one. Try this one. If that one don't work, I'll 00:27:58.819 --> 00:28:05.799 give you another one. Then this is a bad illustration 00:28:05.799 --> 00:28:12.259 if that's the way you use your card. But when 00:28:12.259 --> 00:28:17.059 you know that it's there, I mean, I've been in 00:28:17.059 --> 00:28:18.980 a situation where it didn't go, and I say, wait 00:28:18.980 --> 00:28:23.259 a minute, I know it's there. I know it's there. 00:28:24.660 --> 00:28:26.920 Way more than what you're trying to withdraw. 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:29.099 So something's wrong on your end, not on mine. 00:28:38.259 --> 00:28:44.319 So powerful prayer is knowing what you have. 00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:52.500 And who you are in Christ. So when you pray, 00:28:52.619 --> 00:28:59.359 you're appropriating those things. It's the same 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:01.779 thing as declaring heavenly realities. I mean, 00:29:01.819 --> 00:29:09.119 you're calling what is yours in Christ. And you're 00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:14.759 calling it into this temporal physical world. 00:29:19.180 --> 00:29:20.660 Look to the person beside you and say, that's 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:23.779 pretty good whether you believe it or not. You 00:29:23.779 --> 00:29:31.319 ought to believe it. New stuff. Listen fast. 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:37.660 That was all recap, by the way. You thought I 00:29:37.660 --> 00:29:43.819 was finished. This won't take long. If you listen 00:29:43.819 --> 00:29:48.920 good, it won't take long. Verse 12. And forgive 00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:52.099 us our sins. Jesus is teaching us to pray, right? 00:29:55.140 --> 00:29:57.680 Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 00:29:57.700 --> 00:30:00.799 Who memorized it like that? Forgive us our sins 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:05.740 as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 00:30:11.220 --> 00:30:13.579 Since Jesus said pray like this, is he teaching 00:30:13.579 --> 00:30:16.279 us to ask God for forgiveness every time we pray? 00:30:16.359 --> 00:30:18.940 Is that what he's teaching us right there? Is 00:30:18.940 --> 00:30:21.740 that the crux of that? Every time we pray, oh 00:30:21.740 --> 00:30:25.420 God, I've messed up. Oh God, please forgive me. 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:28.700 Forgive me because I messed up. Is that what 00:30:28.700 --> 00:30:32.420 that says? How many of you have thought that 00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:35.079 that's what that says at some time in your life? 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:41.910 But is that what it says? There's a key word. 00:30:42.490 --> 00:30:45.430 Everybody say a key word. Key word in that verse 00:30:45.430 --> 00:30:52.109 is as. Everybody say as. The Greek is hos, or 00:30:52.109 --> 00:30:53.869 hochi, or however you want to say it. Right there. 00:30:54.269 --> 00:30:57.769 It's a pronunciation. It don't have an S in it, 00:30:57.789 --> 00:30:59.869 so I don't even know how to pronounce it. H -O 00:30:59.869 --> 00:31:09.730 -C -E. Jose. I don't know. Anyway. The key word 00:31:09.730 --> 00:31:18.019 is as. It means as, like as, even as. So Jesus 00:31:18.019 --> 00:31:21.039 has given us another key, a difference between 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:25.779 powerful prayer and powerless prayer. Right here 00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:29.599 in the middle of the prayer. Because he's telling 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:34.779 us to say this, hey God, forgive me as I forgive 00:31:34.779 --> 00:31:40.519 others. Hey God, forgive me just like. I forgive 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:45.779 everybody around me. Somebody say, oh no. I mean, 00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:47.500 that might not be time for an amen. That's time 00:31:47.500 --> 00:31:54.980 for an oh no, right? Because, oh me. Right? Jesus 00:31:54.980 --> 00:31:57.859 is telling us this. He said, when you're talking 00:31:57.859 --> 00:32:03.599 to me, when you're trying to connect with those 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:05.900 heavenly realities, when you're trying to connect 00:32:05.900 --> 00:32:08.839 with what I have given you and who you are in 00:32:08.839 --> 00:32:12.710 me, you know what? Go ahead and throw this thought 00:32:12.710 --> 00:32:16.630 in there. I want you to forgive me just like 00:32:16.630 --> 00:32:25.369 I forgive everybody else around me. Hello. You'll 00:32:25.369 --> 00:32:28.289 never look at the Lord's Prayer the same after 00:32:28.289 --> 00:32:33.029 this study. Listen, forgiveness is of utmost 00:32:33.029 --> 00:32:36.950 importance to God. Everybody say forgiveness 00:32:36.950 --> 00:32:41.250 is important. Listen, I'll debate you on this 00:32:41.250 --> 00:32:42.730 after we get done, but we don't have time right 00:32:42.730 --> 00:32:45.009 now. But I want you to listen and I want you 00:32:45.009 --> 00:32:48.150 to understand what I'm saying. Love, forgiveness, 00:32:48.369 --> 00:32:53.309 and fellowship are the core principles of creation. 00:32:54.309 --> 00:32:56.990 You need to write that down. God gave me that 00:32:56.990 --> 00:32:58.930 this morning sitting on the couch at like five 00:32:58.930 --> 00:33:03.890 o 'clock. Oh boy, I got excited. Because my brain 00:33:03.890 --> 00:33:06.970 wasn't smart enough to figure that out. Another 00:33:06.970 --> 00:33:08.410 bumper sticker? You want another bumper sticker? 00:33:09.509 --> 00:33:12.309 Love, forgiveness, and fellowship are core principles 00:33:12.309 --> 00:33:18.890 of creation. How many of you understand that 00:33:18.890 --> 00:33:21.569 God knew that Adam and Eve were going to mess 00:33:21.569 --> 00:33:29.130 up? He knew it. But he didn't say, they're going 00:33:29.130 --> 00:33:33.430 to mess up, so I might as well scrap this project 00:33:33.430 --> 00:33:38.940 before it even starts. That's not what he said. 00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:44.980 He moved forward with the project. And right 00:33:44.980 --> 00:33:49.920 at the fall, I think it's called the Pro Evangelum 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:52.819 or something like that, he announced the gospel 00:33:52.819 --> 00:33:58.779 right at the fall. That was... See, this is the 00:33:58.779 --> 00:34:03.299 only way love could exist, is if there's a choice 00:34:03.299 --> 00:34:08.869 to not love. God could have just made us all 00:34:08.869 --> 00:34:16.849 robots. And we could just never use our own brain 00:34:16.849 --> 00:34:19.309 or our own emotions and just go through life 00:34:19.309 --> 00:34:23.349 just as a robot. Praise the Lord. Praise the 00:34:23.349 --> 00:34:31.130 Lord. I mean, hallelujah. I don't have any thought 00:34:31.130 --> 00:34:34.929 connection to it. I'm just, oh, I love you, God. 00:34:37.769 --> 00:34:42.869 Is that worship? Is that love? Is that relationship? 00:34:43.590 --> 00:34:49.389 If we're just all puppets, love doesn't exist. 00:34:52.230 --> 00:34:57.650 Fellowship doesn't exist. So in order for love 00:34:57.650 --> 00:35:02.909 and fellowship to exist, there had to be a way 00:35:02.909 --> 00:35:07.030 of forgiveness from the sin and the brokenness. 00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:12.139 If this don't light your fire, your wood's wet. 00:35:13.900 --> 00:35:20.000 There had to be forgiveness. So forgiveness is 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:23.800 important to God. His plan from the very beginning, 00:35:23.900 --> 00:35:28.159 knowing that there was going to be a fall, was 00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:33.239 that he, in the person of Jesus, was going to 00:35:33.239 --> 00:35:35.079 come down to this earth, live a perfect life 00:35:35.079 --> 00:35:37.960 that we couldn't live, and willingly lay down 00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:42.380 his life, And die for you and die for me so that 00:35:42.380 --> 00:35:46.000 we could be forgiven while the justice of God 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:58.199 is upheld. There's a lot in this. So that we 00:35:58.199 --> 00:36:02.400 can choose to love him and fellowship with him. 00:36:04.539 --> 00:36:10.909 So that his creation. had the opportunity to 00:36:10.909 --> 00:36:22.409 know him, to experience his goodness. When Jesus 00:36:22.409 --> 00:36:27.289 says, when you're praying to consider this, Jesus, 00:36:27.389 --> 00:36:29.510 forgive me just like I've forgiven everybody 00:36:29.510 --> 00:36:32.809 around me. Everybody who's ever hurt me, I forgive 00:36:32.809 --> 00:36:36.170 them. So I want you to forgive me just like... 00:36:36.329 --> 00:36:38.929 I forgave that person who hurt me the deepest. 00:36:44.929 --> 00:36:47.449 Jesus is getting us to search our hearts when 00:36:47.449 --> 00:36:50.550 we pray. To make sure that there's no offense, 00:36:50.889 --> 00:36:54.670 no unforgiveness, no bitterness in our hearts. 00:36:56.849 --> 00:37:02.409 Because here's another point of powerless prayer. 00:37:08.980 --> 00:37:12.880 Because if we're harboring offense, anger, unforgiveness, 00:37:12.920 --> 00:37:17.699 and bitterness, we won't have powerful prayer 00:37:17.699 --> 00:37:24.320 that sees wonderful results. Who wants wonderful 00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:33.679 results? Look to the person beside you and tell 00:37:33.679 --> 00:37:37.530 them, listen fast. Listen fast. I think it's 00:37:37.530 --> 00:37:39.050 sprinkling outside, but hopefully it'll quit 00:37:39.050 --> 00:37:41.869 before we have to leave. I'll preach until it 00:37:41.869 --> 00:37:45.030 quits raining. What about that? Anyway, Matthew 00:37:45.030 --> 00:37:52.329 18, 21. Peter came, the disciple that always 00:37:52.329 --> 00:37:54.829 has his foot in his mouth. He came to Jesus and 00:37:54.829 --> 00:37:59.389 asked, that's before Pentecost. Peter came to 00:37:59.389 --> 00:38:02.230 him and asked, Lord, how often should I forgive 00:38:02.230 --> 00:38:04.690 someone who sins against me? He thought he was 00:38:04.690 --> 00:38:14.150 doing awesome. Seven times? I mean, that's pretty 00:38:14.150 --> 00:38:17.590 good, you know. Same person hurts me the same 00:38:17.590 --> 00:38:19.530 way over and over again. I forgive them seven 00:38:19.530 --> 00:38:24.510 times? I mean, that's a lot right there. Wasn't 00:38:24.510 --> 00:38:29.750 enough. No, not seven times, Jesus replied, but 00:38:29.750 --> 00:38:33.570 70 times seven. Just keep on forgiving until 00:38:33.570 --> 00:38:37.989 you get to 490. For the same offense in the same 00:38:37.989 --> 00:38:41.989 day, just keep forgiving, go 490 times in one 00:38:41.989 --> 00:38:48.269 day over the same offense. So obviously seven 00:38:48.269 --> 00:38:56.110 wasn't good enough. And then Jesus laid it out. 00:38:56.929 --> 00:38:59.829 Everybody say he laid it out. He laid it out. 00:39:02.130 --> 00:39:03.889 Here's what he said. Therefore, the kingdom of 00:39:03.889 --> 00:39:07.050 heaven can be compared. Everybody say illustration. 00:39:08.130 --> 00:39:11.309 Kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who 00:39:11.309 --> 00:39:14.650 decided to bring his accounts up to date with 00:39:14.650 --> 00:39:18.530 servants who had borrowed money from him. In 00:39:18.530 --> 00:39:20.829 the process, one of his debtors was brought in 00:39:20.829 --> 00:39:26.929 who owed him millions of dollars. Can anybody 00:39:26.929 --> 00:39:30.449 pay millions of dollars debt right now? Can you 00:39:30.449 --> 00:39:32.909 stroke a check today and pay off millions in 00:39:32.909 --> 00:39:38.869 debt? Not a bouncing check, a real check. Because 00:39:38.869 --> 00:39:40.909 you go to the bank and get millions of dollars 00:39:40.909 --> 00:39:48.130 in $100 bills to pay off your debt. In the process, 00:39:48.170 --> 00:39:50.849 one of his debtors was brought who owed him millions 00:39:50.849 --> 00:39:56.989 of dollars. He couldn't pay. So his master ordered 00:39:56.989 --> 00:40:01.829 that he be sold along with his wife, his children, 00:40:01.909 --> 00:40:09.719 and everything he owned. to pay the debt. But 00:40:09.719 --> 00:40:11.780 the man fell down before his master and begged 00:40:11.780 --> 00:40:16.460 him, please be patient with me. I will pay it 00:40:16.460 --> 00:40:23.480 all. Here's the deal. He knew his salary because 00:40:23.480 --> 00:40:25.159 he was the one paying it and he knew he was never 00:40:25.159 --> 00:40:31.000 going to be able to pay it all. Please be patient 00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:36.159 with me. I will pay it all. Then his master was 00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:40.179 filled with pity. Everybody say compassion. Everybody 00:40:40.179 --> 00:40:45.000 say mercy. Everybody say forgiveness. His master 00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:47.699 was filled with pity for him and he released 00:40:47.699 --> 00:40:52.500 him and forgave his debt. Listen, he didn't say, 00:40:52.539 --> 00:40:55.940 I'll give you more time. He said, you don't owe 00:40:55.940 --> 00:41:02.260 me anything anymore. I forgive you. Millions 00:41:02.260 --> 00:41:05.050 of dollars. I'll just write it off the books. 00:41:10.829 --> 00:41:16.010 He released him and forgave his debt. Listen, 00:41:16.130 --> 00:41:19.030 but when the man left the king, he went to a 00:41:19.030 --> 00:41:21.650 fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. 00:41:22.849 --> 00:41:24.710 How many of you could probably come up with a 00:41:24.710 --> 00:41:31.949 few thousand? Some of y 'all don't need to spend 00:41:31.949 --> 00:41:39.079 more than you make. He went to a fellow servant 00:41:39.079 --> 00:41:42.599 who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed 00:41:42.599 --> 00:41:46.920 him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 00:41:47.800 --> 00:41:51.280 You pay me right now. You owe me $2 ,000. You 00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:54.019 better give me that money right now or I'm going 00:41:54.019 --> 00:41:56.699 to have you arrested and thrown in jail. I might 00:41:56.699 --> 00:42:04.659 even sell one of your kids. His fellow servant 00:42:05.539 --> 00:42:07.619 Fell down before him and begged for a little 00:42:07.619 --> 00:42:10.400 more time. Look, I don't have $2 ,000 today. 00:42:11.519 --> 00:42:18.519 Can I start making payments? Be patient with 00:42:18.519 --> 00:42:24.500 me. And I will pay it. I know that I owe you 00:42:24.500 --> 00:42:26.579 and I don't have it right now, but I promise 00:42:26.579 --> 00:42:36.380 you, I'm going to pay it. Please. But his creditor 00:42:36.380 --> 00:42:39.940 wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put 00:42:39.940 --> 00:42:42.840 in prison until the debt could be paid in full. 00:42:46.780 --> 00:42:55.920 You be the judge. You be the judge. Think about 00:42:55.920 --> 00:43:01.500 it. Somebody just forgave him millions of dollars 00:43:01.500 --> 00:43:06.469 and he walked straight out from that. and choked 00:43:06.469 --> 00:43:09.670 a guy and put him in jail because he owed him 00:43:09.670 --> 00:43:14.489 $2 ,000. Somebody just completely forgiven him 00:43:14.489 --> 00:43:18.550 of millions of dollars, wrote it off the books, 00:43:18.630 --> 00:43:20.630 you don't owe me a penny anymore. He runs straight 00:43:20.630 --> 00:43:24.090 from that meeting and goes and grabs somebody 00:43:24.090 --> 00:43:27.250 by the neck and says, you pay me now. And he 00:43:27.250 --> 00:43:30.449 couldn't pay, so he threw him in jail. You be 00:43:30.449 --> 00:43:34.349 the judge. What should we do with this fellow? 00:43:39.359 --> 00:43:44.500 Hello? Come on. Are you thinking? Are you just 00:43:44.500 --> 00:43:48.380 looking at me? What should we do? What did you 00:43:48.380 --> 00:43:52.860 say? I thought I heard rear end from the back 00:43:52.860 --> 00:43:56.320 row. Whoop his rear end. Is that what you said? 00:44:01.420 --> 00:44:09.750 Who should be thrown in jail? Who should be flogged? 00:44:11.070 --> 00:44:14.469 Come on. If you were the judge and the jury, 00:44:14.570 --> 00:44:31.250 what would you do with this guy? Verse 31, when 00:44:31.250 --> 00:44:34.769 some of the other servants saw this, they were 00:44:34.769 --> 00:44:38.219 very upset. They went to the king and told him 00:44:38.219 --> 00:44:42.400 everything that had happened. Then the king called 00:44:42.400 --> 00:44:46.219 in the man he had forgiven and said, you evil 00:44:46.219 --> 00:44:52.760 servant. I forgave you that tremendous debt because 00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:57.019 you pleaded with me. I forgave you. I showed 00:44:57.019 --> 00:45:00.159 you mercy. I didn't give you what you deserved. 00:45:02.300 --> 00:45:07.349 Shouldn't you have mercy? On your fellow servant. 00:45:09.610 --> 00:45:13.909 Just as. Everybody say just as. Just as I had 00:45:13.909 --> 00:45:21.489 mercy on you. This is a parable. It's an illustration. 00:45:23.369 --> 00:45:28.610 It's about to get personal. This is Jesus' illustration. 00:45:31.489 --> 00:45:36.510 Reminding you that God has forgiven you. And 00:45:36.510 --> 00:45:38.670 if you're being like that other guy, you're refusing 00:45:38.670 --> 00:45:46.630 to forgive somebody else. Think about that a 00:45:46.630 --> 00:45:56.710 second. Do you want the forgiveness of God? Jesus 00:45:56.710 --> 00:45:59.610 is saying, hey, when you talk to God, say, God, 00:45:59.650 --> 00:46:03.280 I want you to forgive me. Just like I forgave 00:46:03.280 --> 00:46:05.760 this person who hurt me more than anybody else 00:46:05.760 --> 00:46:08.659 who's ever hurt me. I want you to forgive me 00:46:08.659 --> 00:46:14.940 like I have forgiven them. Might want to pull 00:46:14.940 --> 00:46:19.980 your toes in if you hadn't already. Sometimes 00:46:19.980 --> 00:46:24.099 the Word of God is challenging. It's not always 00:46:24.099 --> 00:46:31.099 warm fuzzy. Jesus is saying, You need to consider 00:46:31.099 --> 00:46:33.400 my forgiveness when you choose not to forgive 00:46:33.400 --> 00:46:37.400 somebody else. And just like you begin to judge 00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:44.059 this person in their heart because he went after 00:46:44.059 --> 00:46:45.840 the guy who owed him a few thousand dollars, 00:46:45.940 --> 00:46:50.099 you just judged yourself when you judged him. 00:46:53.039 --> 00:46:57.440 If you're holding on to unforgiveness. It's like 00:46:57.440 --> 00:47:00.829 Jesus is saying, are you kidding me? Look at 00:47:00.829 --> 00:47:05.590 me. Are you kidding me? Have you ever said that 00:47:05.590 --> 00:47:10.030 to anybody? Are you kidding me? You mean to tell 00:47:10.030 --> 00:47:12.969 me, listen, don't read ahead, listen to what 00:47:12.969 --> 00:47:16.530 I'm saying. Look at me in my face. I know it's 00:47:16.530 --> 00:47:21.329 not pretty, but I want you to look. Are you kidding 00:47:21.329 --> 00:47:25.570 me? You mean to tell me that I died in your place? 00:47:27.719 --> 00:47:33.139 That I carried your sin to the cross. That I 00:47:33.139 --> 00:47:37.960 paid your debt that was impossible for you to 00:47:37.960 --> 00:47:42.139 pay. So that I could forgive you. I did all of 00:47:42.139 --> 00:47:47.800 that to forgive you. So that you're no longer 00:47:47.800 --> 00:47:49.699 on your way to hell, but you're on your way to 00:47:49.699 --> 00:47:57.269 heaven. Are you kidding me? Your sin brought 00:47:57.269 --> 00:48:04.170 up an impossible debt. There's no way out. But 00:48:04.170 --> 00:48:07.789 I died for you to offer you mercy and forgiveness. 00:48:09.809 --> 00:48:13.389 You're hopelessly lost without me and what I 00:48:13.389 --> 00:48:19.690 did for you. Are you kidding me? Are you going 00:48:19.690 --> 00:48:22.989 to hold on to your anger, to your offense, to 00:48:22.989 --> 00:48:27.530 your bitterness? And decide not to forgive somebody 00:48:27.530 --> 00:48:36.289 else. Are you kidding me? Somebody say, help 00:48:36.289 --> 00:48:45.010 me Jesus or something. Jesus wants you to see 00:48:45.010 --> 00:48:52.010 your unforgiveness just like it's not different 00:48:52.010 --> 00:48:56.579 at all. Your unforgiveness is just like this 00:48:56.579 --> 00:48:59.960 guy that was forgiven an impossible debt and 00:48:59.960 --> 00:49:03.039 went out and grabbed a co -worker or a friend 00:49:03.039 --> 00:49:05.539 by the neck and said, pay me now, and then I'll 00:49:05.539 --> 00:49:07.099 throw you into jail because you can't do it. 00:49:07.199 --> 00:49:09.380 That's what your unforgiveness looks like. You 00:49:09.380 --> 00:49:11.440 might say, well, Dean, you don't know how bad 00:49:11.440 --> 00:49:18.719 they hurt me. I'm not saying that what they did 00:49:18.719 --> 00:49:24.400 was right. But I'm saying, you've got to let 00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:28.280 it go. You have to forgive them. You're not hurting 00:49:28.280 --> 00:49:29.739 them anyway. All you're doing is hurting yourself. 00:49:30.920 --> 00:49:33.380 All you're doing is making your prayer powerless 00:49:33.380 --> 00:49:45.880 by holding on. Ephesians 4, 32 says, Be kind 00:49:45.880 --> 00:49:50.039 and compassionate to the people who are kind 00:49:50.039 --> 00:50:00.079 and compassionate. Is that what it says? Hello? 00:50:00.880 --> 00:50:05.219 Wake up, somebody. Be kind and compassionate 00:50:05.219 --> 00:50:07.039 to all those people who are kind and compassionate 00:50:07.039 --> 00:50:09.840 to you. Boy, I just want you to be kind and compassionate 00:50:09.840 --> 00:50:17.059 to them in our happy little world. It's not what 00:50:17.059 --> 00:50:21.699 it says. God says, be kind and compassionate 00:50:21.699 --> 00:50:25.280 to one another. Listen, he says, forgiving each 00:50:25.280 --> 00:50:30.320 other just as. Everybody say just as. There's 00:50:30.320 --> 00:50:37.980 that word as again. Just as in Christ, God forgave 00:50:37.980 --> 00:50:45.559 you. This is not an option. This is a command. 00:50:51.210 --> 00:50:53.789 It's not, boy, only real spiritual people can 00:50:53.789 --> 00:50:56.110 do that. But I'm not real spiritual, so I'll 00:50:56.110 --> 00:50:59.989 just keep on having bitterness and unforgiveness 00:50:59.989 --> 00:51:05.050 and keep holding on to that offense. God don't 00:51:05.050 --> 00:51:10.150 expect me to release other people. After all, 00:51:10.230 --> 00:51:19.150 look what they did to me. Forgiving each other. 00:51:21.360 --> 00:51:25.820 Just like Jesus forgave you. And Jesus says, 00:51:26.039 --> 00:51:34.119 ask God to forgive you just like you have forgiven 00:51:34.119 --> 00:51:41.679 everyone who has ever hurt you. Listen, you cannot 00:51:41.679 --> 00:51:45.960 have a powerful prayer life and hold on to unforgiveness 00:51:45.960 --> 00:51:49.380 at the same time. You will never have a powerful 00:51:49.380 --> 00:51:54.750 prayer life. If you're harboring that. Who wants 00:51:54.750 --> 00:51:59.909 wonderful results for your prayers? Has anybody 00:51:59.909 --> 00:52:02.670 ever heard about how they catch wild monkeys? 00:52:04.510 --> 00:52:08.489 Has anybody ever heard that story? If you want 00:52:08.489 --> 00:52:10.289 to catch a wild monkey, here's all you have to 00:52:10.289 --> 00:52:17.369 do. You get a jar with an opening just big enough 00:52:17.369 --> 00:52:20.320 for the monkey to get his hand in the jar. And 00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:25.440 you put some bananas in it. And then you have 00:52:25.440 --> 00:52:27.840 a wrap around the jar and you tie the jar to 00:52:27.840 --> 00:52:33.400 a tree. And when that monkey comes up, he's going 00:52:33.400 --> 00:52:38.039 to reach in there for that banana. And when he 00:52:38.039 --> 00:52:40.260 grabs hold of that banana, all you have to do 00:52:40.260 --> 00:52:44.500 is walk up and throw a bag over it. You know 00:52:44.500 --> 00:52:47.440 why? Because he's not going to let go of that 00:52:47.440 --> 00:52:51.440 banana. Even though that jar is attached to the 00:52:51.440 --> 00:52:56.579 tree, he's trying to run away from you. But every 00:52:56.579 --> 00:53:01.780 time, the jar that's attached to the tree that 00:53:01.780 --> 00:53:05.079 he's got his hand in, that has his hand on the 00:53:05.079 --> 00:53:07.880 banana, holding that banana, he's not going to 00:53:07.880 --> 00:53:13.420 let the banana go. So he's caught. All he has 00:53:13.420 --> 00:53:21.230 to do is let go of the banana. And he can get 00:53:21.230 --> 00:53:23.070 away before you throw a bag over him to catch 00:53:23.070 --> 00:53:30.309 him. That's all he's got to do. Let go of the 00:53:30.309 --> 00:53:36.710 banana. Did you connect the dots or do I have 00:53:36.710 --> 00:53:44.510 to connect the dots for you? You want to see 00:53:44.510 --> 00:53:47.130 wonderful answers and wonderful results to your 00:53:47.130 --> 00:53:52.300 prayer. But at the same time, there's a jar with 00:53:52.300 --> 00:53:55.159 unforgiveness, some pain of your past, somebody's 00:53:55.159 --> 00:53:57.260 hurt you, and you're holding them accountable 00:53:57.260 --> 00:53:59.380 still, and you're holding on to it, and your 00:53:59.380 --> 00:54:02.519 hand's in the jar, and you want wonderful results 00:54:02.519 --> 00:54:05.340 for your prayer, but you'll never get to it because 00:54:05.340 --> 00:54:07.880 you're holding on to unforgiveness. You're harboring 00:54:07.880 --> 00:54:16.239 bitterness. You're harboring offense. And you 00:54:16.239 --> 00:54:20.219 say, well, God, Since this prayer thing started, 00:54:20.340 --> 00:54:23.659 I've even been praying like Jesus told us to 00:54:23.659 --> 00:54:25.699 pray. I've been using a pattern. I've been saying 00:54:25.699 --> 00:54:28.440 the right words. I've had revelation from God, 00:54:28.559 --> 00:54:31.139 and I'm speaking that. I'm declaring heavenly 00:54:31.139 --> 00:54:34.400 realities, and I'm claiming what you have done, 00:54:34.460 --> 00:54:36.539 what you have given me in Christ, and who I am 00:54:36.539 --> 00:54:38.880 in Christ, and I'm still not getting results. 00:54:42.340 --> 00:54:52.179 Let go of the banana. You're only hurting yourself. 00:54:53.659 --> 00:54:56.579 This online worship experience was brought to 00:54:56.579 --> 00:54:59.320 you by the friends and partners of Eulation Church.