SPEAKER_00: Good to be in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: It brings my heart joy to see y'all tit-chatting and talking with each other.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, Pastor always says uh love plus unity equals miracles.
SPEAKER_00: And um God gave him that equation, and it's so good to um to go by that and to live it out, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Um how many of y'all were here this morning?
SPEAKER_00: He preached so good.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he always does, of course.
SPEAKER_00: And um just it was it was powerful and just our grown, God wants us to grow.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want us to stay stagnant, you know.
SPEAKER_00: If we're not growing in the word of God, if we're not um moving into the new and growing, um, we're moving back.
SPEAKER_00: There's no uh neutral ground.
SPEAKER_00: I always tell the teenagers, there's no neutral ground.
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you're not moving and moving forward into the things of God, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: You're going backwards, right?
SPEAKER_00: There's no neutrality with the things of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so God wants us to grow.
SPEAKER_00: God wants us to um, you know, we face hard things in life, and um the devil wants to keep us stuck, but God is a God of growth, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so He wants us to grow.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we can do the will of the Father, because we can't do the will of the Father if we're stuck, and if we're always questioning um things and always, you know, always say questions are in the arena of doubt.
SPEAKER_00: Why this and why that?
SPEAKER_00: And how come?
SPEAKER_00: And why forget all that, right?
SPEAKER_00: Forget it.
SPEAKER_00: Um, we serve a God who is the answer, he is the answer, and so we just have to stick close to him, and um he'll he'll reveal himself fresh in you when we stay close to him.
SPEAKER_00: And so tonight, if you're if you're a note taker, I'm a note taker, but no judgment on those of y'all who aren't.
SPEAKER_00: Um uh tonight, I guess the title title of my message is Daily Heart Inspection.
SPEAKER_00: Um, Daily Heart Inspection.
SPEAKER_00: And so pastor's been preaching on prayer joining forces.
SPEAKER_00: Um you know, prayer doesn't have to be this complicated or difficult thing.
SPEAKER_00: Um, prayer is just fellowship with God.
SPEAKER_00: How many of y'all remember maybe uh when you were young, or maybe if you're around a family reunion and you've ever been asked to pray, right?
SPEAKER_00: How many of y'all have ever like I remember, I think I was told this story before, but I was a teenager and my youth pastor asked me to pray, and I was in the I was hiding, I was hiding in the back.
SPEAKER_00: But how many of y'all know I can see y'all in the back?
SPEAKER_00: The back row, like we can still see the back row.
SPEAKER_00: You can't hide in the back row.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but he called me to pray, and I was like, oh, my heart was thumping, and and I was like, ugh, why did he call on me?
SPEAKER_00: But um, but prayer is just fellowship with God, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's just talking to God when we put our faith in Jesus, when we put our uh trust in God, when we've said yes to Jesus, we're in the family of God.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to act like an outsider.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to come to God with all these long words.
SPEAKER_00: Who cares?
SPEAKER_00: Just talk to God, right?
SPEAKER_00: We've been born into the family of God.
SPEAKER_00: Say, I've been born into the family of God.
SPEAKER_00: So we have access.
SPEAKER_00: We have access um with the God who created us.
SPEAKER_00: He created us to worship him, he created us to talk with him, he created us to be real with him, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not to put on this fake persona.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think that's sometimes we can get that waiver in a group setting, you know, we gotta figure it all out.
SPEAKER_00: But God just wants our heart, right?
SPEAKER_00: He just wants us to be real.
SPEAKER_00: And so when uh so pastor did uh um been preaching on uh prayer joining forces, and I don't know if he mentioned because I think I was out in junior high for one of his messages, but when he was preaching one Sunday, I immediately thought of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6.
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to turn to Matthew 6, 9 through 12, and I'll read it in the New King James.
SPEAKER_00: Um it says, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
SPEAKER_00: Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forget our forgive our debtors, and do not lead us into into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's um a prayer to be modeled, not just just to be memorized.
SPEAKER_00: Um uh, you know, I'm a little collector of antique books, and so a lot of times, you know, I'll come across a commentary, an old antique commentary, or a or just an old English book, and and the Lord's prayer is in there.
SPEAKER_00: And so a lot of times we we when we hear this prayer, we think it's just to be memorized, and we flip through, you know, um the Bible, but no, like you can take this prayer and pray it out.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's so rich, right?
SPEAKER_00: You can't you can walk out the truth of what he is saying in that prayer.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just to be memorized, and so our Father, you can you pray to him, right?
SPEAKER_00: Hallowed be your name.
SPEAKER_00: So we enter with praise and worship, with thanksgiving and gratitude, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then it goes on to say, Your kingdom come, your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: That's a prayer of consecration to him, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, not my will, it's all yours, God.
SPEAKER_00: Not my will, but your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: Right, and then give us this day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: And so we look to God for what we need daily, not just like one time.
SPEAKER_00: I prayed this prayer, but it's a daily, it's a daily prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And then in verse uh 12, and that's what I wanted to focus on, um, in the New to Living translation, it says, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
SPEAKER_00: And so when I was um meditating on that prayer, really, really this message um came from, and I I always go back and forth on my titles.
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm always, I don't say I'm bad on my titles, usually, like God gives me a verse or or something or something I've been reading, meditating on, and then I gotta gel it all together.
SPEAKER_00: And then God, what do you, you know, um, what do you want the title to be?
SPEAKER_00: It was it was gonna be inspection day.
SPEAKER_00: So uh Jay and I have been um going through some things.
SPEAKER_00: So, like we so in the process, bought a house, selling our old house, so all of the house stuff, right?
SPEAKER_00: Putting our house up on the market.
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's work.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, for those of y'all, I told Jay, like those of y'all who have moved a lot, God bless you.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord keep you and make his face shine upon you because it is it is monumentous, like it is just a lot of work and contracts to be read and things to be decided on quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Um and so um, and so you know, uh when you sell a house and when you buy a house, there's there's an inspection day, right?
SPEAKER_00: You get your house prepared to put on the market, and then an inspector um comes and and inspects um the building, the house.
SPEAKER_00: And um when we were, you know, we were there with the inspector, like the Lord really was just revealing, you know, he was revealing some things to me.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, you know, a lot of these things, you know, if you just look at it in the natural, if you just look at, you know, your house in the natural, oh, I painted the rooms and I w and I wiped the floors and I got the outside, you know, I power washed, our house needed power washing.
SPEAKER_00: So we got that done.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, man, why didn't we do this a long time ago?
SPEAKER_00: Like I can, anyways, it looked, it looked a lot better.
SPEAKER_00: But so when the inspector comes, you know, he notices things that we don't see in the natural eye, right?
SPEAKER_00: He notices cracks in the foundation um where I did not see, or he notices thing, you know, there's a gutter missing, or there's this missing, and and so that's the and you want that.
SPEAKER_00: You want somebody to come and inspect, it's part of the process, do an inspection um on your house and or on the building because you know um it it affects the value it so so you want to um make sure that you know, and when the inspector comes and then and then you're waiting on the report, right?
SPEAKER_00: And then it's like 120 pages of things, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so they check for hidden damages, they check for things, and um and so and we can get tempted, like, you know, what how do I thought that was fixed and I didn't know that, like we can't get, you know, to me, like not that Jake got mad, but but there are some things that like what, you know, we didn't know about that, or but it's good though, it's good to to know those things, and so you know, if there are termites, we didn't have termites, but they're termites, you want to know if there's termites.
SPEAKER_00: If you're buying a house, you want to know if there's termites.
SPEAKER_00: If you if there's mold behind the walls, you want to know, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that reminded me of Pastor's message um on Wednesday where one of the Wednesdays where he was talking about wallpaper and just wallpapering over things, and and really there's like a hole in the wall, but we just wallpaper and then we don't see it.
SPEAKER_00: But really, God, um, you know, we have to do a daily heart inspection.
SPEAKER_00: Like, is there anything in there that shouldn't belong in there?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And so is there is there unforgiveness?
SPEAKER_00: Is there pride?
SPEAKER_00: Is there resentment?
SPEAKER_00: And so, um, and just like you know, mold behind the walls, it's spreading, but you don't know because you can't see.
SPEAKER_00: Um but uh so the good news translation in that um verse says, forgive us the wrongs we have done.
SPEAKER_00: And then another translation says, we release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's to be included in our prayer life.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the the prayer that I just prayed, that's to be included in our prayer life.
SPEAKER_00: So we should consecrate ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: We should, hey God, is there anything inside of me?
SPEAKER_00: Let's do a heart check, right?
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything inside of me that that shouldn't be there?
SPEAKER_00: Like you inspect my heart.
SPEAKER_00: And so the the closer we get to God and the closer we read when we read his word, he reveals himself.
SPEAKER_00: He'll show us that you know what what is the word?
SPEAKER_00: The word is a mirror, it shows us things that are wrong.
SPEAKER_00: And so um, so it's a it's an opportunity to get it right.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone say it's an opportunity to get it right, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so it's a self-evaluation, and so we extend forgiveness, but then also we've been forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: We've been forgiven, and so it's easy, it should be easier to extend forgiveness when we know, hey, we've been forgiven, right?
SPEAKER_00: And uh, let's see, I wanted to read Matthew 18, 23 through 35.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is the parable of the unforgiving servant, and I'm gonna read it in the Passion translation.
SPEAKER_00: I liked it in the Passion.
SPEAKER_00: The lessons of forgiveness in heaven's kingdom realm can be illustrated like this.
SPEAKER_00: There was once a king who had servants who had borrowed money from the royal treasury.
SPEAKER_00: He decided to settle accounts with each of them.
SPEAKER_00: As he began the process, it came to his attention that one of his servants owed him one billion dollars.
SPEAKER_00: So he summoned the servant before him and said to him, Pay me what you owe me.
SPEAKER_00: When his servant was unable to repay his debt, the king ordered that he be sold as a slave along with his wife and children and every possession they owned as payment toward his debt.
SPEAKER_00: The servant threw himself face down at his master's feet and begged for mercy.
SPEAKER_00: Please be patient with me.
SPEAKER_00: Just give me one more time, give me more time, and I will repay you all that I owe.
SPEAKER_00: Upon hearing his pleas, the king had compassion on his servant and released him and forgave his entire debt.
SPEAKER_00: No sooner had the servant left when he met one of his fellow servants who owed him twenty thousand dollars.
SPEAKER_00: He seized him by the throat and began to choke him, saying, You'd better pay me right now everything you owe me.
SPEAKER_00: His fellow servant threw himself face down at his feet and begged, Please be patient with me.
SPEAKER_00: If you'll just give me time, I'll repay you all that is owed.
SPEAKER_00: But the one who had his debt forgiven stubbornly refused to forget what was owed him.
SPEAKER_00: He had his fellow servant thrown into prison and demanded he remain there until he repaid the debt in full.
SPEAKER_00: When his associates saw what was going on, they were outraged and went to the king and told him the whole story.
SPEAKER_00: The king said to him, You scoundrel, is this the way you respond to my mercy?
SPEAKER_00: Because you begged me, I forgave you the massive debt that you owed me.
SPEAKER_00: Why didn't you show the same mercy to your fellow servant that I showed to you?
SPEAKER_00: In a fury of anger, the king turned him over to the prison guards to be tortured until all his debt was repaid.
SPEAKER_00: In this same way, my heavenly father will deal with any of you if you do not release forgiveness from your heart toward your fellow believer.
SPEAKER_00: And so what stood out to me was in verse 33, why didn't you show me the same mercy to your fellow?
SPEAKER_00: Why didn't you show the same mercy to your fellow servant?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we just have to take a moment and remember all of the times that God has forgiven us, right?
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes when we get in the heat of the moment or in the thick of it, and we were tempted to not to forgive or to hold on to bitterness or or or grudges, think about this story.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this parable, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so in our prayer life, this should be happening regularly, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so again, we don't have a sin.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about here, you know, we're we've been the made righteous, we're we're the righteousness of God in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We can do all things through Him.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have a sin consciousness, but I think sometimes we can get in the in the ditch where we don't even we think we're good, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're we we we think we can say whatever we want and act the way we want, and but you better walk in love towards me.
SPEAKER_00: No, well that's not how it quite works, right?
SPEAKER_00: We have to make sure that we're doing the right thing, that we're that our words are sweet, our words are kind, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we want to make sure that every single day that we um keep short accounts with one another, right?
SPEAKER_00: The blood of Jesus is so much greater than all of it, than any mess that you may face or that you're that you're gonna face, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so, and that goes back to the prayer.
SPEAKER_00: That goes, this, you know, he's our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: And his will in our life is for us to keep short accounts with one another.
SPEAKER_00: His will for our lives is to do a heart check every day.
SPEAKER_00: His will for our lives is to, yes, speak the truth, but speak it in love, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we have to make sure that there's not a root of bitterness, that there's not a crack in the foundation, because that's a major crack in the foundation.
SPEAKER_00: And so everything above that, everything that your life is built upon, is is gonna be, there's gonna be a fault in it.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be a crack.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have to choose to let it go.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 11, 25 in the new living says, but when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your father in heaven will forgive your sins too.
SPEAKER_00: And so there he says, when you stand praying, forgive.
SPEAKER_00: And I've heard, I think it's pastor, Pastor Mark Hankins says, you know, it doesn't take 25 years to forgive.
SPEAKER_00: You when you stand praying, forgive those who have wronged you, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so in that moment, when you're praying, you can forgive.
SPEAKER_00: And so you don't have to allow the things to go days, weeks, months, years, and then you become negative Nelly and bitter, right?
SPEAKER_00: Bitter Bob.
SPEAKER_00: No, you you don't wanna, you don't wanna become bitter.
SPEAKER_00: You have to make sure to keep short accounts.
SPEAKER_00: And um in in the that prayer and in this, like Jesus places, I notice that Jesus places forgiveness in both of those teachings, right?
SPEAKER_00: So you you you're joining forces, but you you're not gonna be very mighty and prevail and be effective.
SPEAKER_00: Your your prayers aren't gonna be effective.
SPEAKER_00: Our prayers aren't gonna be effective if we stand praying, but then we have odds against somebody, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're jealous or we're envious, or something happened, you know, whatever the case may be, or family member.
SPEAKER_00: You have to, every day you have to do a heart check.
SPEAKER_00: Every day you have to lay it down, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not my will, but whose?
SPEAKER_00: Your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: Not my will, but your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's pretty important.
SPEAKER_00: If we want to join forces with God, we have to forgive, right?
SPEAKER_00: We have to forgive.
SPEAKER_00: You you are mighty when you forgive.
SPEAKER_00: The greater one lives on the inside of you, not because it's you uh doing it, because it's the Holy Spirit inside of you helping you, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so that has to be dealt with.
SPEAKER_00: It's the inspection report, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's a daily inspection.
SPEAKER_00: You can get mad every day, all day long at the inspection report.
SPEAKER_00: How dare he show me that crack in the foundation?
SPEAKER_00: How dare he tell me I have termites?
SPEAKER_00: How dare he tell me that we don't we don't have termites?
SPEAKER_00: I'm just throwing out those examples.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have mold in the walls.
SPEAKER_00: How dare he tell me?
SPEAKER_00: We did have to fix the gutter.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but we did, we fixed it.
SPEAKER_00: How dare how why that would be kind of ludicrous to to get mad at the guy.
SPEAKER_00: He's just the reporter, he's just reporting what's already there, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's it was hidden, some of the things were hidden, and so um, so God knows, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like we can fool people, but we you know who you can't fool is God.
SPEAKER_00: So I tell the teens, hey, you can fool mommy and daddy all day long, but you know who one person you can't, you can't fool God.
SPEAKER_00: He knows your heart, he knows what's going on on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: And so, um, so if there's a crack in the foundation, you know, the word God will reveal it to you, He'll show you.
SPEAKER_00: And we don't get mad at God.
SPEAKER_00: How dare you, God, no, thank you, Jesus, that you reveal that to me.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord, because we don't want anything to hinder our prayer life, we don't want anything to hinder what sometimes we might wonder why we're not uh moving along or growing in the things of God, and it could be that there's something in there, it could be that there's a root of something in there, and so we have to make sure that that we deal with it, that um that we realize what God has done for us, that we don't lay that to the side, we don't lay the Word of God to the side.
SPEAKER_00: It's a mirror.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 4 32 in the New Living.
SPEAKER_00: And here Paul is talking to Christians, not to unsaved people, not to the Democrats, not to the He's talking to Christians in this verse.
SPEAKER_00: He says, get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
SPEAKER_00: And so here he's saying to Christians, get rid of it.
SPEAKER_00: Get rid of the bitterness.
SPEAKER_00: Get rid of the anger.
SPEAKER_00: Get rid of the harsh words.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, so I like that he didn't just say, hey, stop doing this.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, this is what we do, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're kind to each other, we're tenderhearted to one another.
SPEAKER_00: We're forgiving.
SPEAKER_00: In the Passion Translation, it says, the Holy Spirit of God has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience your full salvation.
SPEAKER_00: So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted his holy influence in your life.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we grieve the Holy, we can grieve the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes we forget, right?
SPEAKER_00: We do life and we just we we can forget and we just say whatever and we, you know, do whatever and we say whatever, and we have these time um crunches and and we go on our merry way, but but here, like, man, did I grieve the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_00: Did I have to say that right now?
SPEAKER_00: Could I have waited a little bit?
SPEAKER_00: Could I have prayed in the Holy Ghost first instead of picking up the phone and and calling somebody and asking their opinion about it?
SPEAKER_00: Did I pray first?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And so it grieves the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So we want to make sure we don't grieve the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Here he says that we experience our full salvation.
SPEAKER_00: In salvation, it's just not like a ticket to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: There's so much in salvation, there's redemption, there's uh um we're healed, we're we've been redeemed, we've been overcome, uh, we're not anxious anymore, we're not depressed, we're a spirit, soul, and body.
SPEAKER_00: There's so much.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's not just a ticket to heaven, but he wants us to experience our the full salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh we never greet the Spirit of God or take for granted his holy influence in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Lay aside bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, revenge, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not just for the big thing.
SPEAKER_00: If you if you take revenge in the little things in life, when the big things come, you really don't want to take revenge, right?
SPEAKER_00: You really don't, I mean, it's God, God sees it.
SPEAKER_00: We're not vengeance is mine, says the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And so we don't take revenge, profanity, and insult, but instead be kind and affectionate toward one another.
SPEAKER_00: Has God graciously forgiven you?
SPEAKER_00: Here we say yes, then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ's love.
SPEAKER_00: And so forgiveness is just one of the characteristics of the love of God, right?
SPEAKER_00: We forgive.
SPEAKER_00: We've been freely forgiven, and we forgive others.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Peter 4, 7 through 8 in the New Living says, but the end of all things is at hand.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers, and above all things have fervent love for one another.
SPEAKER_00: For love will cover a multitude of sins.
SPEAKER_00: Above all things, above all, above all things, right?
SPEAKER_00: Above all means what?
SPEAKER_00: Above all, nothing else is more important, right?
SPEAKER_00: What you think, yes, we have to get all the things done, but above all, he says, have this fervent love for one another.
SPEAKER_00: It'll cover a multitude of sins.
SPEAKER_00: And so, and he and I like that he's be serious and be watchful in your prayer life, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we have to make sure that we're not poisoning our own soul, that we're not, that we're not taking in things that are poison, right?
SPEAKER_00: And when you live in a society that that's so easy to do, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's like you have to on purpose, you know, set a guard over your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: You have to on purpose set a guard over what you're listening to.
SPEAKER_00: You know, there are many preachers that you can listen to, there are many songs you can you can listen to as well.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I like what Pastor said this morning, like he's our pastor, right?
SPEAKER_00: He's our pastor.
SPEAKER_00: We only have so much time in a day.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't have time to listen to 20, you know, podcasts and 20 other preachers.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I stick to my, I stick to my couple.
SPEAKER_00: I listen to Mark Hankins.
SPEAKER_00: That's our supernatural uh leadership.
SPEAKER_00: Like we, yeah, that's our divine connection.
SPEAKER_00: I of course I listen to Pastor and uh I listen to Mark Hankins, and there's a couple other other leadership uh podcasts that I listen to, but I don't just open myself to, hey, like I'm gonna listen to everybody and everything, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of times that confuses us.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have to make sure that we guard that, that we guard, that we protect the anointing of, you know, pastor has an anointing to feed us, to lead us, to guide us, and we have to guard that.
SPEAKER_00: We have to make sure that um that we're listening.
SPEAKER_00: So here uh it says, be fervent with love for one another, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so when God reveals something to us, right, the inspection report, daily inspection, like I I, you know, we come to God, we pray, we get up in the morning, whatever your routine is, and you come to God, and hey, God, inspect me.
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything inside before before I get online, right?
SPEAKER_00: Before I get my phone, right, before I blast it on Facebook, let's go to God first.
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything in me that's a problem?
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that would show what would show up on our inspection report?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: What would show up if if if you know God, God knows us, God knows our heart, what would our report say?
SPEAKER_00: How long would our report be?
SPEAKER_00: And so we want to make sure that um in our daily prayer time that we we let those things go and we draw close to God because the word says when you come close to him, he'll come close to you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so I have an acronym for pray, P.
SPEAKER_00: So I just took P-R-A-Y.
SPEAKER_00: Um, P is praise God, shout your way to victory.
SPEAKER_00: Um, praise and worship helps align our heart with God, it creates an atmosphere.
SPEAKER_00: Um I would encourage you to have praise and worship music music going on in your house to sing it like the songs that we sing here.
SPEAKER_00: I'm constantly singing them.
SPEAKER_00: Uh the ones we do, we sing in youth.
SPEAKER_00: Um we're just the I'm constantly singing them at the house, um, but because they're in me.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't just let it stop here, but we constantly um it comes out of our heart.
SPEAKER_00: So Psalm 104 said, Enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
SPEAKER_00: And so um we have to make sure to to to praise him, right?
SPEAKER_00: To to praise him, to give him the glory, give him the honor, to lift up your hands, um, and and also to push through.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times, uh I call it like spiritual ADD.
SPEAKER_00: We um our attention span, and there's um, I didn't write it down, but like the attention span now versus you know, back in the 99, like eight to 10 minutes, right?
SPEAKER_00: Versus back when it was like 45 minutes.
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times we don't dig deeper, right?
SPEAKER_00: We need to dig deeper when you get into a prayer closet, when you are praying much in the Holy Ghost, like don't just stop at one minute, like dig deeper.
SPEAKER_00: Pray much in the Holy Ghost, get the word of God out.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Pastor says he opens up his Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I do that too.
SPEAKER_00: I open up your Bible, read scripture, and pray much in the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, God, show me where it is that I'm missing that.
SPEAKER_00: Show me who I need to forgive, show me if there's anything in me that's causing somebody else to stumble, right?
SPEAKER_00: So a lot of times we think it's just I'm gonna forgive them.
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe it's something in us that's causing somebody, maybe it's a harsh word.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's how we say things, maybe it's our demeanor, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so show me, Lord, what it what am I doing?
SPEAKER_00: Show me.
SPEAKER_00: And so the R is repent.
SPEAKER_00: Repent if there's a sin that we need to confess.
SPEAKER_00: Again, we're not sin conscious, but again, the word says to repent.
SPEAKER_00: The word says, when you stand praying, forgive.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we want to make sure, hey, um, is there something inside of me?
SPEAKER_00: Do I need I need to repent?
SPEAKER_00: Is there something that I said, Lord, I repent, right?
SPEAKER_00: And I move beyond, I've moved past that.
SPEAKER_00: I repent.
SPEAKER_00: And so we don't ignore it.
SPEAKER_00: And then the A is ask.
SPEAKER_00: Ask God for wisdom, right?
SPEAKER_00: When you ask God for wisdom, He liberally gives it to us.
SPEAKER_00: He God gives us the wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: You have wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: God has given you the wisdom, supernatural wisdom to know how uh the words coming out of your mouth, supernatural wisdom to know um when to get in your car and go somewhere, and then when when to maybe not, right?
SPEAKER_00: Just because uh there are things to do and there are places to go and there's pressure.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you got to do this.
SPEAKER_00: Well, hold on, Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Do you want me to do that?
SPEAKER_00: Or am I doing that because there's pressure?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people they just go out of pressure.
SPEAKER_00: Well, so-and-so said I should, and that, and there's a deadline, and there are deadlines, but is that what God wants you to do?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you do that thing, it might be taking you away from what God really wants you to do.
SPEAKER_00: And so you want to make sure you're following the Holy Spirit, not man's pressure, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because who are you gonna give an account to?
SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna give an account at the end of your life, you're not gonna give an account to man, you're gonna give an account to God.
SPEAKER_00: What did you fulfill the plan of God that I put on your life, or were you just following uh pressure and man's opinions?
SPEAKER_00: And so you want to make sure that you're not following pressure, you're not following man's opinions, that um ask God for for wisdom for that day.
SPEAKER_00: And then why is yield?
SPEAKER_00: Going back to um uh the prayer, you know, not my will, but your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: Not what I want to do, right?
SPEAKER_00: But God, what do you want me to do?
SPEAKER_00: You know, the disciples couldn't even pray with him at the garden there, like he's about to go be crucified.
SPEAKER_00: Not not my will.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't want to, not my will, but your will be done, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta do it, right?
SPEAKER_00: I gotta do it, not my will, but your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, going back to inspection report, God knows.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, and the one other, let me read this.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 14.
SPEAKER_00: I wrote it so I can't read it.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 14, 10 said, each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy.
SPEAKER_00: And so, God, again, got this is in Proverbs.
SPEAKER_00: So if your heart's bitter, you know, again, you can't, you can't fool God.
SPEAKER_00: Like if your heart's bitter, if you turn your heart towards God, He'll heal you, He'll redeem the time, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we take, you know, the Bible is full of um, and pastor preaches about this.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, the benefits of God, yes, the promises of God are yes and amen, but it's also conditional.
SPEAKER_00: It's an if-then, it's conditional, it's up to us, right?
SPEAKER_00: When we stand praying, when we stand believing for things in our life, when we stand uh believing for other people, other family members, us and family members, um, you have to make sure that you're standing in the right place.
SPEAKER_00: You have to make sure that you keep short accounts, you have to make sure that when you stand praying, forgive, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's a big crack in the foundation.
SPEAKER_00: And God wants us to, God wants us to step into the new.
SPEAKER_00: God wants us to step into the new.
SPEAKER_00: And so this church should be, if you just look at our roster, all the people that have come through, if you go on our database and you look at all the people that there's like thousands, thousands of people that have come through the church.
SPEAKER_00: But just like Pastor said, the ones that are here are the ones that need to be here, right?
SPEAKER_00: And there are more that need to be here.
SPEAKER_00: There are more people that need to be here and need to hear, need to have a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: Our like our our pastor, he is just so full of the word.
SPEAKER_00: He's so um his revelation.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't take that for granted.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you don't, right?
SPEAKER_00: I know y'all don't take that for granted.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I just think of the ones that have gone on before us.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm thankful that I grew up under John Osteen, right?
SPEAKER_00: We grew up under John Osteen.
SPEAKER_00: We were just um talking about that to somebody uh at the meetings, but just the rich heritage of the word of faith, of not letting um not letting circumstances, not letting what's new, what's the latest, who's the greatest?
SPEAKER_00: No, like being solid in your foundation, right?
SPEAKER_00: Of the word of faith, of the word of God, of our confession.
SPEAKER_00: And our confession is so important, right?
SPEAKER_00: That's part of forgiveness, is our confession.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Pastor, uh, if you notice, he always has us confess.
SPEAKER_00: He we he picks up his Bible and we confess the word.
SPEAKER_00: Even during communion, we confess the word because it's so important.
SPEAKER_00: You have what you say, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not what you think, but what you say.
SPEAKER_00: And so when it comes to having a daily, a daily prayer life, a daily heart check, a daily uh heart inspection, I would just encourage you, do it daily.
SPEAKER_00: You can't let time go by, right?
SPEAKER_00: And then you're still holding on to that grudge from two years ago.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God, the your prayer, really, the word says your prayers aren't even heard.
SPEAKER_00: They're vain repetitions.
SPEAKER_00: Oh God, you know, and the pastor talked about this more.
SPEAKER_00: Me, me, me, you know, certain prayers, like, no, we don't come to God with vain repetitions, but our they're heartfelt prayers.
SPEAKER_00: We have to make sure that our heart is pure, that our heart is clean, that we make daily adjustments in our heart.
SPEAKER_00: That way, um it's a it's a clear communication between you and God.
SPEAKER_00: God, show me where I've missed it.
SPEAKER_00: Show me what I can do, show me, you know, I I forgive others.
SPEAKER_00: So-and-so hurt me.
SPEAKER_00: I forgive them.
SPEAKER_00: I I'll pray for them, help them, Lord, strengthen them.
SPEAKER_00: You know where they're at.
SPEAKER_00: You know they didn't mean that.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Like you extend forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: And so, and that's where the power is, right?
SPEAKER_00: A good heart equals a good life.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: A heart turned towards God is a is a heart um uh just that's close to God.
SPEAKER_00: God will reveal himself fresh.
SPEAKER_00: God will reveal himself, he'll show you new things, right?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we just thank you, Lord, for your word.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you, Father, for every moment and time that we get to spend in your presence.
SPEAKER_00: We don't take it uh for lightly, Father.
SPEAKER_00: We don't take it for granted.
SPEAKER_00: And so I just pray a special blessing and a prayer over everybody in this room.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you, Father, that their hearts uh are turned towards you.
SPEAKER_00: If there's any bitterness or any um uh anger, Father, or any unforgiveness, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you, Lord, that you inspect our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: You know what goes on, Father, inside of us.
SPEAKER_00: And so we thank you that we're an open book.
SPEAKER_00: We're an open book, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you, Lord, that daily, you daily load us with benefits, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We don't forget your benefits.
SPEAKER_00: You've healed us, you've redeemed us, you set us free.
SPEAKER_00: And so we thank you, Father, that we daily walk in those benefits.
SPEAKER_00: We don't forget what you've done.
SPEAKER_00: We don't forget the goodness and the mercy that you have extended towards us, Father.
SPEAKER_00: And so we extend that towards others.
SPEAKER_00: We extend mercy and grace and forgiveness, Lord, for such is the kingdom, our fervent love towards one another.
SPEAKER_00: That's how people will know, Father, that we are disciples, when we have love towards each other, the agape kind of love, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And so we want to join forces with you.
SPEAKER_00: And so when we pray, Father, we thank you, Lord, that we keep short accounts with one another.
SPEAKER_00: And so we thank you, Father, that if there's anybody here tonight, Lord, you see their heart, you know what they're going through.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you, Father, that they just cast their care on you because you care for them.
SPEAKER_00: They cast it once and for all, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We cast it right now in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We're not gonna worry, we're not gonna fret, we're not gonna roll that thing around in our head, but we're gonna cast it once and for all.
SPEAKER_00: And so we thank you, Lord, that we are victorious, we are overcomers.
SPEAKER_00: You've made us to be above, above all principalities, above all the rulers of the darkness.
SPEAKER_00: We have the authority, you've given us the authority, and so we thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We don't take that lightly, we don't take that for granted, but we step into it and we thank you, Lord, that this is the year of the new.
SPEAKER_00: You are doing some new things in our heart and in Glorious Way Church, and through our pastor and Miss Gladys, Father, we thank you, Father, for what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: Our greatest days are ahead of us in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.