Sharing good news of great joy to all people.
Elation Church. Week number four in a series
that we've entitled Powerful Prayer. Everybody
say powerful prayer. Here's the deal. There is
powerless prayer. And there is powerful prayer.
There's powerless prayer. And there's powerful
prayer. So, today we're going to kind of look
at the things that we've talked about that makes
our prayer powerless, as well as looking at the
next line of the Lord's Prayer. So if you haven't
been here the last three weeks, you're going
to get a good catch up. And if you would like
to know more about the little things I'm going
to say about each week, It's all on podcasts.
Just look up Galatian Church on any podcast platform.
Look at YouTube. All right? These former messages
are posted there. Many Christians pray but seldom
see results. I believe all of us at times have
prayed and then we feel like we haven't seen
results from our prayer. Now, you can put on
your... church halo, Christian halo, and act
like, oh, well, my prayers, I've always seen
results for every prayer that I've ever prayed.
The Bible does say liars won't be there. Anyway.
So let's just be honest with each other. But
this is what the Bible says in James 5, 16. Listen
to what the Word of God says. The earnest prayer.
of a righteous person has great power and produces
wonderful results. Since this is the Bible, do
you think God wants to answer our prayers? How
many righteous people are in the room? Raise
your hand if you're righteous. Raise it up high,
quickly. Raise it up high. Raise it up high.
Come on. Some of you are not raising your hand.
The Bible says, the Bible says, everybody say
the Bible. I should have this verse up here.
I just wasn't planning on hammering it that hard,
but that's just what came out. The Bible says
that we, are the righteousness of God in Christ
Jesus. So here's what that means. If you are
in Christ, if you have come to Jesus and confessed
your sin, ask him to forgive you. If you have
called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
which is not just a name by word, It's a name
by relationship. If you have called on the Lord
Jesus Christ, meaning that you have confessed
him as your Lord, you know what that means? That
you've surrendered ownership rights. Your ownership
rights, you've surrendered those, you've laid
those down, and you have given yourself to Christ.
And you want to follow him. I'm not saying that
you have followed him perfectly since you made
that confession. But that is the desire of your
heart that you want to follow Jesus and live
for Jesus. You want him to be Lord, master, boss
of your life. You figured out that you can't
run it the way it needs to be run on your own.
Come on, somebody, help me out. You don't need
to be. in charge of your own life anymore. You
need Jesus to be in charge of your life. You
want to follow him. Well, if you have done that,
then you are in Christ and you are now the righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. This is what happens
at salvation. We take off our filthy rags, our
unrighteousness, and then Jesus clothes us in
his robe of righteousness. So when God looks
at us, when we're in Christ, He sees the blood
of Christ. He sees forgiveness. He sees that
we are now in right standing. We are righteous
when we're in Christ. So don't be scared to raise
your hand if somebody asks you if you're righteous.
See, I'm... I'm clothed in Jesus' righteousness,
not mine. And if you're not in Christ, you can
be in Christ today. You can become the righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus today. This can happen
today. Today is the day, is what the Bible says.
So, if we are in Christ, we are righteous. So
the earnest prayer of a righteous person has
great power and produces wonderful results. I
memorize it as the effectual fervent prayer of
the righteous man avails much is the way I memorize
it. Anybody else memorize it that way? It's an
efficient prayer. It's an effective prayer. This
is hinging on how we pray. And get this. If we
pray like Jesus told us to pray, it's going to
be earnest, effective, effectual, fervent. It's
going to fit that category. And when it fits
that category, it's going to produce wonderful
results in your life. Who believes the Word of
God? I didn't write this. This is God's word
for you today. The earnest prayer of a righteous
person has great power and produces wonderful
results. We shouldn't expect anything else than
wonderful results. We're not... Throwing hopes,
oh hopes, up to the sky to see if they'll hit.
When we're praying like Jesus told us to pray.
Why do people seldom see results? Why do so many
people seldom see results? Well, we've talked
about a lot of those things during this series.
And like I said, if you need more, just go listen
to it. It's there. It takes us a lot of time
and costs us money for it to be there. So it's
available to you. Jesus said, when they said,
hey, Master, teach us how to pray, because we
see that you have a powerful prayer life. We
see that you are getting wonderful results when
you pray, that you are empowered every time you
get alone by yourself to pray, and you come back,
it's like you've been energized and recharged.
So Jesus says, when you pray, don't be like the
hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street
corners and in the synagogues where everyone
can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all
the reward they will ever get. Pharisees and
Sadducees, I mean, they want to make sure everybody
heard them when they pray. It was an expression
of their super spirituality. You know, it'd be
like somebody today just standing up and talking
real loud to God, like they're just talking,
just them, just them communicating with God,
but all of a sudden they put on this old English
in there. Every word ends with an S -T or a T
-H. Every you is a thy or a thou. Trying to show
off. I want to pray so that you will be amazed
at how spiritual I am. Jesus said, don't pray
like that. He said, that's hypocritical prayer.
Hypocrite is a play actor. Means that you put
on a different mask. Don't ever put on a different
mask to pray. Don't begin to act like a different
character than you normally are when you begin
to talk to God. That's what a hypocrite is. Jesus
said, but when you pray, go away by yourself.
Shut the door behind you and pray to your Father
in private. Then your Father who sees everything
will reward you. If the only time you're going
to pray is when you're in public where everybody
else can see you pray, just stop. Just stop.
That's the only time you talk to God. Because
you're not really talking to him. It's not powerful
prayer. Powerful prayer is not a public display
of your super spirituality. Jesus said this.
He said, when you pray, So that's powerless prayer,
by the way. If you want to know what powerless
prayer is, prayer with no power, it's when you
try to pray as a public display to make people
think how spiritual you are. Don't ever say,
let's pray about that, if you never pray about
anything when you're by yourself. Verse 7. Somebody
smile. Jesus said, when you pray, Don't babble
on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers
are answered merely by repeating their words
again and again and again and again. Look at
the person beside you and say, don't do it. Powerful
prayer is not, listen, it's not mindless, meaningless
repetition. It's okay to teach our children to
pray by giving them some memorized prayers to
pray. But if that's the only way you're praying
as an adult, you've got a long way to go. It's
time to break free. Look at the person beside
you and tell them, break free. We're talking
with God. Hello? Listen to yourself pray. If
every time you pray, you're just saying the same
thing again, Is it mindless, meaningless repetition?
Well, it is. It's always mindless, meaningless
repetition if you do not speak to God from your
heart. If you're just speaking to God from your
head, memorize just going through the motions,
going through religious motions, it's powerless.
Everybody say powerless. Jesus said in verse
8, don't be like them for your father knows exactly
what you need even before you ask him. Powerful
prayer is not, everybody say not, is not begging
God to do what you want him to do. And I think
that's where most people's prayer life is. We're
just begging God to do something that we want
Him to do. We're praying ignorantly. We don't
know what His promises are. We don't know who
He is. We don't know what He wants to do. All
we know is what we want, and we want it now,
so we're going to beg Him. Prayer's not begging.
Powerful prayer's not begging. Somebody smile.
I know you're thinking really hard. Maybe that's
what you thought prayer was. But prayer is more
than that. Look to the person beside you and
say, prayer is more than that. Prayer is more
than that. Powerful prayer is not talking at
God. It's talking with God. Powerful prayer is
not just you doing all the talking and just rattling
off, I want this, I want this, God do this, please
do this, please give me this, give me that, give
me that, give them this, give them that, give
them that, and follow me around today. Bye. Has
anybody ever prayed like that? Not with those
words, but that's what you are saying. I've said
it too many times. Well, that's not powerful
prayer. We're talking with God. We're opening
up His Word. We're spending time to listen. It's
not just one -way communication. It's two -way
communication. Hey, if you're in Christ, God
is in your spirit. He's connected to your spirit.
He's on the inside of you. And he wants to talk
to you. The Bible says we're supposed to walk
in him and live in him and have our being in
him. Hello? Somebody say in him. How are we going
to do that if we're not in communication with
him? Somebody give me the V8 thing. So, that
was most of week one. Here we go, week two. Jesus
said, after he gave us those instructions of
powerless prayer and what powerful prayer is
and what powerless prayer is, he says, pray like
this. Pray like this, and this lines up. Before
this is over, I'm going to give you the word
study that I've been working on this week because
that effectual fervent prayer of the righteous
man just lines right up with what Jeffrey said
last week. So it makes your prayer powerful and
effective where you will see wonderful results.
Just the language just matches right up beautifully.
Jesus said, pray like this. Did he say pray this?
Somebody say no. even though I've had people
get mad at me because I don't say, and let's
pray together as the Lord taught us to pray.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. I've had people get mad at me because we
didn't do that every service. But Jesus did not
say pray this. He said pray like this. Pray like
this. The Lord's Prayer is a pattern. Everybody
say a pattern. It's a guide. Everybody say guide.
It's a model. Everybody say model. It's a pattern,
God, and model for our praying to be effectual
and fervent and see wonderful results. Pray like
this. Our Father in heaven, may your name be
kept holy. How do we keep his name holy? By his
name being special to us. By us cherishing his
name. It's not just words coming out of our mouth.
It's originating in our heart, in our soul, and
going into our mind, our will, and our emotions.
Do we really cherish God? We did a whole series
on the names of God, right? We have a lot of
names. Names give us identity, helps us to differentiate
between each other. Some names are relationship
names. Like that name Lord that I said a few
minutes ago, that's a relationship name. It's
not a proper name. Jesus is his proper name.
And Christ is an activity name. He's the empowered
one. The anointed one. That's what Christ means.
It's not an identity name, it's an activity name.
So, we went through all of those names, and we
didn't even cover them all, but we went through
all of those in week, I can't remember what week,
week two. We backtracked and looked at all those
names that the Bible tells us who God is. what
kind of relationship he wants to be in with us,
and what he does, his activity. And we didn't
do that just for more head knowledge. We didn't
go through all that just so we could be smarter.
It works right in with our prayer life. If we
want to have powerful prayer life, we've got
to... honor him, honor his name, cherish his
name. His name has to be special to us. We're
keeping it holy. And in the names of his activity
and his relationship, when we begin to pray for
something that lines up with who he is, hello?
That's powerful and effective prayer. So what
do you need God to do for you? Do you need him
to provide something for you? Well, you better
start making his name El Shaddai be precious
to you. Come on, somebody. You better start making
his name Yahweh Jireh be special to you. You
got to cherish it. That's who he is. That's my
daddy. Hello? That's my father who gave me life.
And his name is special to me. If you need some
peace, you better be going to Yahweh Shalom.
He's one God, but he tells us what he wants to
do for us and who he is for us. If you want some
peace, you better start praying by honoring his
name, by letting him know that his name is special
to you. You are Yahweh Shalom. You are my peace.
Hello? That becomes powerful prayer. Unlike,
oh God, I'm so twisted and I'm so messed up.
God, please, please, please. Please, God, I need
some peace. I just don't know if I'm going to
make it. If you don't give me peace, I'm done.
I've got to have it. I don't know. I'm just in
so much turmoil, God. Please give me some peace.
That's a beggar prayer. That's a powerless prayer.
Hello? I prayed like that. So powerful prayer
begins with God's name being special to you.
You cherishing his name and calling on his name.
Father, you are the one who gives me life and
you are. Yahweh shalom. You are my peace, God.
So I'm declaring who you are. Everybody say declaring.
Next verse. May your kingdom come soon. May your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What
does this tell us? God's will is not being done
on earth. It's messed up. Everybody say messed
up. It's broken. Sin broke it. Sin messed it
up. So what is Jesus telling us to do? He's telling
us when we pray, we need to connect to God's
will and how that's being let out in heaven and
how that is told to us. His will, we find it
in His word. And his will is perfect in heaven.
It's happening perfectly in heaven. Your will
be done, your kingdom come on earth as it is
in heaven. So prayer is declaring heavenly realities.
If you missed last week, you've got to listen
to it. I've already listened to it four more
times. And I plan on listening to it some more.
And I've got the full notes and the full PowerPoint.
But I want God's word planted in my heart. I
want my faith to rise. Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. Hello? So powerful
prayer, everybody say powerful prayer, is declaring
heavenly realities into our temporal, physical
realm. And it continues. I'm going to use that
in just a minute. In verse 11, Jesus said, give
us today the food we need. Jesus is not saying
to say, oh God. I'm so hungry. I need some food.
Please, please, please, God, give me some food.
God, please give me food. Everybody say, in Christ,
I'm not a beggar. I'm a child of God. I never
had to beg my daddy for something to eat. Now,
you may have. If you didn't have a good father,
you might have had to beg. Your mom and dad,
oh please mom and dad, please let me eat today.
I'm sorry that you had sorry parents. If you
had to beg to eat as a baby, beg. I'm sorry.
But don't. Put your bad experience with bad parents.
Don't be putting that on God. He's a good father.
He's a lot better than the best father that's
ever walked on this earth. He's a lot better
than that. He's a good God. He's a good father.
So we're not begging. We're declaring the realities
of heaven. Powerful prayer is based on, get this,
is based on appropriating. who we are and what
we have in Christ. Everybody say in Christ. Can
you begin to see how powerless prayer is when
we talk to God and His name is not special to
us and we don't know what His will is? And we
don't know what he has provided for us. Hello,
come on. We don't know what we have in Christ.
The promises of God, we don't know them. We don't
know who we are in Christ. All that equals powerless
prayer. Powerful prayer is based on appropriating.
Who we are and what we have in Christ. What He
has promised us. What He has already given us.
So many times we're begging God for something
that He's already given us. It's already yours.
It's just like the illustration Jeffrey used
last week. It's like using a debit card. When
you go to the store and you get some stuff, I
mean... If you're like me, you don't carry around
cash to pay for a meal or pay for your groceries.
You got a debit card. And when it comes time
to pay the bill, you don't say, oops, I don't
have any money. You pull out your debit card
that you know, everybody say you know, you pull
out your debit card that you know, that what's
in the bank is yours. Come on, somebody. You
know it's yours. You know you have it. But you
don't have to drive to the bank and make a withdrawal
and come back. No, you just pull out that debit
card and you make a demand on the bank to pay
these people from your account. Hello? Now, if
you never know what's in your bank account and
you're pulling out your debit card like it's
Russian roulette and you're like, well, try this
one. Try this one. If that one don't work, I'll
give you another one. Then this is a bad illustration
if that's the way you use your card. But when
you know that it's there, I mean, I've been in
a situation where it didn't go, and I say, wait
a minute, I know it's there. I know it's there.
Way more than what you're trying to withdraw.
So something's wrong on your end, not on mine.
So powerful prayer is knowing what you have.
And who you are in Christ. So when you pray,
you're appropriating those things. It's the same
thing as declaring heavenly realities. I mean,
you're calling what is yours in Christ. And you're
calling it into this temporal physical world.
Look to the person beside you and say, that's
pretty good whether you believe it or not. You
ought to believe it. New stuff. Listen fast.
That was all recap, by the way. You thought I
was finished. This won't take long. If you listen
good, it won't take long. Verse 12. And forgive
us our sins. Jesus is teaching us to pray, right?
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Who memorized it like that? Forgive us our sins
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
Since Jesus said pray like this, is he teaching
us to ask God for forgiveness every time we pray?
Is that what he's teaching us right there? Is
that the crux of that? Every time we pray, oh
God, I've messed up. Oh God, please forgive me.
Forgive me because I messed up. Is that what
that says? How many of you have thought that
that's what that says at some time in your life?
But is that what it says? There's a key word.
Everybody say a key word. Key word in that verse
is as. Everybody say as. The Greek is hos, or
hochi, or however you want to say it. Right there.
It's a pronunciation. It don't have an S in it,
so I don't even know how to pronounce it. H -O
-C -E. Jose. I don't know. Anyway. The key word
is as. It means as, like as, even as. So Jesus
has given us another key, a difference between
powerful prayer and powerless prayer. Right here
in the middle of the prayer. Because he's telling
us to say this, hey God, forgive me as I forgive
others. Hey God, forgive me just like. I forgive
everybody around me. Somebody say, oh no. I mean,
that might not be time for an amen. That's time
for an oh no, right? Because, oh me. Right? Jesus
is telling us this. He said, when you're talking
to me, when you're trying to connect with those
heavenly realities, when you're trying to connect
with what I have given you and who you are in
me, you know what? Go ahead and throw this thought
in there. I want you to forgive me just like
I forgive everybody else around me. Hello. You'll
never look at the Lord's Prayer the same after
this study. Listen, forgiveness is of utmost
importance to God. Everybody say forgiveness
is important. Listen, I'll debate you on this
after we get done, but we don't have time right
now. But I want you to listen and I want you
to understand what I'm saying. Love, forgiveness,
and fellowship are the core principles of creation.
You need to write that down. God gave me that
this morning sitting on the couch at like five
o 'clock. Oh boy, I got excited. Because my brain
wasn't smart enough to figure that out. Another
bumper sticker? You want another bumper sticker?
Love, forgiveness, and fellowship are core principles
of creation. How many of you understand that
God knew that Adam and Eve were going to mess
up? He knew it. But he didn't say, they're going
to mess up, so I might as well scrap this project
before it even starts. That's not what he said.
He moved forward with the project. And right
at the fall, I think it's called the Pro Evangelum
or something like that, he announced the gospel
right at the fall. That was... See, this is the
only way love could exist, is if there's a choice
to not love. God could have just made us all
robots. And we could just never use our own brain
or our own emotions and just go through life
just as a robot. Praise the Lord. Praise the
Lord. I mean, hallelujah. I don't have any thought
connection to it. I'm just, oh, I love you, God.
Is that worship? Is that love? Is that relationship?
If we're just all puppets, love doesn't exist.
Fellowship doesn't exist. So in order for love
and fellowship to exist, there had to be a way
of forgiveness from the sin and the brokenness.
If this don't light your fire, your wood's wet.
There had to be forgiveness. So forgiveness is
important to God. His plan from the very beginning,
knowing that there was going to be a fall, was
that he, in the person of Jesus, was going to
come down to this earth, live a perfect life
that we couldn't live, and willingly lay down
his life, And die for you and die for me so that
we could be forgiven while the justice of God
is upheld. There's a lot in this. So that we
can choose to love him and fellowship with him.
So that his creation. had the opportunity to
know him, to experience his goodness. When Jesus
says, when you're praying to consider this, Jesus,
forgive me just like I've forgiven everybody
around me. Everybody who's ever hurt me, I forgive
them. So I want you to forgive me just like...
I forgave that person who hurt me the deepest.
Jesus is getting us to search our hearts when
we pray. To make sure that there's no offense,
no unforgiveness, no bitterness in our hearts.
Because here's another point of powerless prayer.
Because if we're harboring offense, anger, unforgiveness,
and bitterness, we won't have powerful prayer
that sees wonderful results. Who wants wonderful
results? Look to the person beside you and tell
them, listen fast. Listen fast. I think it's
sprinkling outside, but hopefully it'll quit
before we have to leave. I'll preach until it
quits raining. What about that? Anyway, Matthew
18, 21. Peter came, the disciple that always
has his foot in his mouth. He came to Jesus and
asked, that's before Pentecost. Peter came to
him and asked, Lord, how often should I forgive
someone who sins against me? He thought he was
doing awesome. Seven times? I mean, that's pretty
good, you know. Same person hurts me the same
way over and over again. I forgive them seven
times? I mean, that's a lot right there. Wasn't
enough. No, not seven times, Jesus replied, but
70 times seven. Just keep on forgiving until
you get to 490. For the same offense in the same
day, just keep forgiving, go 490 times in one
day over the same offense. So obviously seven
wasn't good enough. And then Jesus laid it out.
Everybody say he laid it out. He laid it out.
Here's what he said. Therefore, the kingdom of
heaven can be compared. Everybody say illustration.
Kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who
decided to bring his accounts up to date with
servants who had borrowed money from him. In
the process, one of his debtors was brought in
who owed him millions of dollars. Can anybody
pay millions of dollars debt right now? Can you
stroke a check today and pay off millions in
debt? Not a bouncing check, a real check. Because
you go to the bank and get millions of dollars
in $100 bills to pay off your debt. In the process,
one of his debtors was brought who owed him millions
of dollars. He couldn't pay. So his master ordered
that he be sold along with his wife, his children,
and everything he owned. to pay the debt. But
the man fell down before his master and begged
him, please be patient with me. I will pay it
all. Here's the deal. He knew his salary because
he was the one paying it and he knew he was never
going to be able to pay it all. Please be patient
with me. I will pay it all. Then his master was
filled with pity. Everybody say compassion. Everybody
say mercy. Everybody say forgiveness. His master
was filled with pity for him and he released
him and forgave his debt. Listen, he didn't say,
I'll give you more time. He said, you don't owe
me anything anymore. I forgive you. Millions
of dollars. I'll just write it off the books.
He released him and forgave his debt. Listen,
but when the man left the king, he went to a
fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.
How many of you could probably come up with a
few thousand? Some of y 'all don't need to spend
more than you make. He went to a fellow servant
who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed
him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
You pay me right now. You owe me $2 ,000. You
better give me that money right now or I'm going
to have you arrested and thrown in jail. I might
even sell one of your kids. His fellow servant
Fell down before him and begged for a little
more time. Look, I don't have $2 ,000 today.
Can I start making payments? Be patient with
me. And I will pay it. I know that I owe you
and I don't have it right now, but I promise
you, I'm going to pay it. Please. But his creditor
wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put
in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
You be the judge. You be the judge. Think about
it. Somebody just forgave him millions of dollars
and he walked straight out from that. and choked
a guy and put him in jail because he owed him
$2 ,000. Somebody just completely forgiven him
of millions of dollars, wrote it off the books,
you don't owe me a penny anymore. He runs straight
from that meeting and goes and grabs somebody
by the neck and says, you pay me now. And he
couldn't pay, so he threw him in jail. You be
the judge. What should we do with this fellow?
Hello? Come on. Are you thinking? Are you just
looking at me? What should we do? What did you
say? I thought I heard rear end from the back
row. Whoop his rear end. Is that what you said?
Who should be thrown in jail? Who should be flogged?
Come on. If you were the judge and the jury,
what would you do with this guy? Verse 31, when
some of the other servants saw this, they were
very upset. They went to the king and told him
everything that had happened. Then the king called
in the man he had forgiven and said, you evil
servant. I forgave you that tremendous debt because
you pleaded with me. I forgave you. I showed
you mercy. I didn't give you what you deserved.
Shouldn't you have mercy? On your fellow servant.
Just as. Everybody say just as. Just as I had
mercy on you. This is a parable. It's an illustration.
It's about to get personal. This is Jesus' illustration.
Reminding you that God has forgiven you. And
if you're being like that other guy, you're refusing
to forgive somebody else. Think about that a
second. Do you want the forgiveness of God? Jesus
is saying, hey, when you talk to God, say, God,
I want you to forgive me. Just like I forgave
this person who hurt me more than anybody else
who's ever hurt me. I want you to forgive me
like I have forgiven them. Might want to pull
your toes in if you hadn't already. Sometimes
the Word of God is challenging. It's not always
warm fuzzy. Jesus is saying, You need to consider
my forgiveness when you choose not to forgive
somebody else. And just like you begin to judge
this person in their heart because he went after
the guy who owed him a few thousand dollars,
you just judged yourself when you judged him.
If you're holding on to unforgiveness. It's like
Jesus is saying, are you kidding me? Look at
me. Are you kidding me? Have you ever said that
to anybody? Are you kidding me? You mean to tell
me, listen, don't read ahead, listen to what
I'm saying. Look at me in my face. I know it's
not pretty, but I want you to look. Are you kidding
me? You mean to tell me that I died in your place?
That I carried your sin to the cross. That I
paid your debt that was impossible for you to
pay. So that I could forgive you. I did all of
that to forgive you. So that you're no longer
on your way to hell, but you're on your way to
heaven. Are you kidding me? Your sin brought
up an impossible debt. There's no way out. But
I died for you to offer you mercy and forgiveness.
You're hopelessly lost without me and what I
did for you. Are you kidding me? Are you going
to hold on to your anger, to your offense, to
your bitterness? And decide not to forgive somebody
else. Are you kidding me? Somebody say, help
me Jesus or something. Jesus wants you to see
your unforgiveness just like it's not different
at all. Your unforgiveness is just like this
guy that was forgiven an impossible debt and
went out and grabbed a co -worker or a friend
by the neck and said, pay me now, and then I'll
throw you into jail because you can't do it.
That's what your unforgiveness looks like. You
might say, well, Dean, you don't know how bad
they hurt me. I'm not saying that what they did
was right. But I'm saying, you've got to let
it go. You have to forgive them. You're not hurting
them anyway. All you're doing is hurting yourself.
All you're doing is making your prayer powerless
by holding on. Ephesians 4, 32 says, Be kind
and compassionate to the people who are kind
and compassionate. Is that what it says? Hello?
Wake up, somebody. Be kind and compassionate
to all those people who are kind and compassionate
to you. Boy, I just want you to be kind and compassionate
to them in our happy little world. It's not what
it says. God says, be kind and compassionate
to one another. Listen, he says, forgiving each
other just as. Everybody say just as. There's
that word as again. Just as in Christ, God forgave
you. This is not an option. This is a command.
It's not, boy, only real spiritual people can
do that. But I'm not real spiritual, so I'll
just keep on having bitterness and unforgiveness
and keep holding on to that offense. God don't
expect me to release other people. After all,
look what they did to me. Forgiving each other.
Just like Jesus forgave you. And Jesus says,
ask God to forgive you just like you have forgiven
everyone who has ever hurt you. Listen, you cannot
have a powerful prayer life and hold on to unforgiveness
at the same time. You will never have a powerful
prayer life. If you're harboring that. Who wants
wonderful results for your prayers? Has anybody
ever heard about how they catch wild monkeys?
Has anybody ever heard that story? If you want
to catch a wild monkey, here's all you have to
do. You get a jar with an opening just big enough
for the monkey to get his hand in the jar. And
you put some bananas in it. And then you have
a wrap around the jar and you tie the jar to
a tree. And when that monkey comes up, he's going
to reach in there for that banana. And when he
grabs hold of that banana, all you have to do
is walk up and throw a bag over it. You know
why? Because he's not going to let go of that
banana. Even though that jar is attached to the
tree, he's trying to run away from you. But every
time, the jar that's attached to the tree that
he's got his hand in, that has his hand on the
banana, holding that banana, he's not going to
let the banana go. So he's caught. All he has
to do is let go of the banana. And he can get
away before you throw a bag over him to catch
him. That's all he's got to do. Let go of the
banana. Did you connect the dots or do I have
to connect the dots for you? You want to see
wonderful answers and wonderful results to your
prayer. But at the same time, there's a jar with
unforgiveness, some pain of your past, somebody's
hurt you, and you're holding them accountable
still, and you're holding on to it, and your
hand's in the jar, and you want wonderful results
for your prayer, but you'll never get to it because
you're holding on to unforgiveness. You're harboring
bitterness. You're harboring offense. And you
say, well, God, Since this prayer thing started,
I've even been praying like Jesus told us to
pray. I've been using a pattern. I've been saying
the right words. I've had revelation from God,
and I'm speaking that. I'm declaring heavenly
realities, and I'm claiming what you have done,
what you have given me in Christ, and who I am
in Christ, and I'm still not getting results.
Let go of the banana. You're only hurting yourself.
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