Powerful Prayer: Unforgiveness Disconnects the Power

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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