Prayer Matters, Part 2

Hello and welcome to this Thursday edition of The Truth Network Podcast. Today we're going to be sharing these messages in your everyday and you're finding your purpose in life. What God wants to do in and through you. I would love for you to drop us a line and share your testimony. It can be one or two paragraphs.

It can be a full length letter and then we'll just pare it down. But please share with us what God's done as a result of your being a listener. And give us permission to share it because we may find ways that we can share your story.

We don't have to call your name if you don't want. But we can share your story and by doing so others can be blessed as well. So please consider getting in touch with us letting us know the difference that Destined for Victory is making in your life. Well there's no doubt that one of the best ways to bless the lives of others is by sharing with them what God has done in our life. If you've been blessed by the Destined for Victory broadcast we'd love to hear from you today. Visit pastorpaul.net and use the contact us feature at the top of the home page. Or tell us how God is working in your life by sending us a letter. Our address is Destined for Victory.

Post office box 1767 Fremont California 94538. We look forward to hearing what God has done. Prayer and accountability are supposed to go together. You're not supposed to just talk to God. But you're supposed to talk to other people about the things you need God to do in your life. Whether it is a physical healing or whether it is an emotional healing.

Whether there is some guidance you need. Whatever it is prayer is not supposed to be purely a personal exercise. Have you ever heard people say a person's relationship with God should remain private?

Some people think that way. There's just one problem. God isn't one of them. Today Pastor Paul Shepherd reminds us that we need one another on this journey towards destiny. We need their encouragement, their wisdom and their prayers. Here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message, Prayer Matters. In our last message I began talking about the fact that prayer matters. And we were looking at verse 16 that says, Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

So let me just go back there and remind you what I was saying at the end of the previous message. Is that prayer and accountability are supposed to go together. You're not supposed to just talk to God. But you're supposed to talk to other people about the things you need God to do in your life. Whether it is a physical healing or whether it is an emotional healing. Whether there's some guidance you need, whether there's some direction you need from the Lord.

Whether you need Him to break through some barrier in your life. Whatever it is, prayer is not supposed to be purely a personal exercise. We are supposed to connect with other people in accountability so that they can help us pray through and work through the things that only God can do. See some of us try to be spiritual long rangers and the Bible does not support that. The Bible does not support personal discipleship in the sense of no connectedness with others. It's true I can know Jesus for myself but it is not true that everything that needs to happen in my life can happen with only me talking to the Lord. I have to be intentional about talking to other people as well as to the Lord. Now you who are lone rangers by temperament, you who tend to stay to yourself and I really don't deal with other people, you're in the kingdom now.

You no longer have that option. In the kingdom you cannot have a personal pursuit of holiness. You cannot have a personal pursuit of the things of God. You have to be involved with other people. God has destined you to be in relationship.

I mentioned it last time. 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul says in a verse there, we were baptized by one spirit into the body of Christ. Now if you were baptized when you got saved, if you were baptized by the spirit into the body of Christ, that means that body is supposed to be functional and you're supposed to be a functional part of it. You cannot get everything you need to get from God through personal prayer alone. James says confess your trespasses not to God, he says to one another and then pray for one another that God will do the healing. Whatever the need is, God's going to answer the prayer. God's going to meet the need.

God's going to give you the breakthrough. God's going to give you the healing but not if you are disconnected from the body. We're all members of the body. Every member has its place and you've got to be involved with other people. None of us want to see a thumb going around by itself.

Isn't that a gross thought? It's supposed to be connected and you are supposed to be connected with other people. So I was giving the analogy of imagine your life as a house. Your life is a house. God's design is that there are people so connected with you that you don't invite them into just the nice parts of your house. Most of us know what it is to have parts of the house that if people pop up on you unexpected, just fine, come on in. But how many know there are other parts of your house? Even your physical house in most cases unless you're one of those neat freaks where everything is just completely in order. There are some folk who everything in the whole house is completely spic and span and orderly and neat. Everything's put up. There's a place for everything and everything in its place. There are some, there are probably some in this audience right now that are like that.

We could bus up in their house right now and not see a thing out of place. But 12 of them are the exception to the rule. Isn't that the truth?

The 12 of them are the exception to the rule. The rest of us, we got places we're going to bring you into. Sit right here. Don't get up. Well, since your life is like a house, God wants it to be so that there are some people who are familiar not only with the best of you but they're familiar with the challenges of you, with the idiosyncrasies of you, with the dysfunction of you.

Come on, somebody. With the parts of you that don't work, the parts of you that don't make sense, the parts of you that you're not anxious to just show off to the world. If you don't have people in your business at that level, you are missing some of the breakthroughs and blessings and healing that God has ordained for your life because you haven't accessed the way it's going to happen.

It is through relationship with trusted people. Now, don't tell me, oh, but Pastor, you understand, I've been burned by people I trusted. Listen, you're not telling me anything I don't know. I know what it is to be thoroughly burned. I know what it is to have somebody who you thought had your back and all they did with your back was put a knife in it. I know what that's like, but let me tell you something. Your enemies and naysayers do not write the book The Story of Your Life.

Oh, they might have a bad chapter that involves them, but that's not the end of the book. Turn the page because God said, I started a good work in you and I'm not done, so I'm just writing a new chapter and I want to tell all of you who have been burned that's no excuse for disobeying the clear principle of walking in accountability. All you got to do is learn to know who people really are. Once people show you who they are, believe them. Believe them and usher them out. Love you, but I'm going to love you from afar.

Bye. Some of y'all had the wrong folk in your inner circle and so you just got to realize they're not supposed to be there. See, just because somebody is ordained to be in your life doesn't mean they're ordained to be in the inner circle. Some folk can't handle your inner circle. Some folk can't handle your stuff.

Have you run into them yet? There are people who can't handle it. Some people don't have the discipline to handle your stuff. Some people can only take you at your best. You don't need many of those folk in your life, folk who can only take you at your best. You really don't need that. You need people who take whatever's coming.

Whatever you present, they can handle it. You need people who know the worst of you and love you anyway. I hope you understand most of your friends only love you because they don't know you.

Might as well hurt your feelings real quick before we get on with the rest of this. Most of your friends only love you because they are ignorant of who you really are. And who can't love you when you are wonderful? But the challenge is, can you find folk who will love you when they don't like you? Love you when they don't understand how can you be that intelligent and that stupid at the same time?

Come on, do you have folk like that who look at you and say, what, really? You need people who can handle the real you. And James said, those are the people you got to learn to confess your trespasses to and then pray. Do you know that your vertical relationship is only as good as your horizontal relationships? In other words, my relationship with God is going to be largely dependent on how willing I am to bring people in to my real house.

Deal with the real thing so that together we go to God vertically and we receive blessings from on high. You're not going to get the breakthrough by yourself. Quit trying to ask God. I've tried it.

I know. You can't get some things done by yourself. So you have to be willing to find the people. Well, pastor, where do you find people like that? Begin to build relationships. That's why you got to be in a healthy church where people are trying to connect you through fellowships and what have you. And once you get into a church that specializes not just in helping people worship but helping people connect in fellowship, women of destiny, men of destiny, places where you can build relationships and then find somebody who you can really talk to. You need spiritual leaders who you can really talk to, you can unburden yourself to. You've got them here. There are some folk who, well, they want to know my character as a leader so they're really not that concerned.

Otherwise, there's some people that would only be happy when I die because they'll know that their secret is finally gone. Don't go away. We're only about halfway through today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd, senior pastor of Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. If you love listening to Pastor Paul here on Destined for Victory, we know you'll enjoy watching some of his best video clips on YouTube. Be sure to subscribe there or visit pastorpaul.net to get links to all of his social media.

That's pastorpaul.net where you can listen on demand to recent messages or find a variety of resources in our online store. Now, here is Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message, Prayer Matters. There are some people I'm carrying some stuff that they hope to God. I am the man of integrity. They believe I am. Unfortunately, I am by God's help and I will take their stuff to the grave.

I've taken it to God. I've talked to them one on one and the rest is going with me to the grave. I've talked to somebody who killed someone. I've talked to a murderer. If I can handle a murderer's stuff, you are alright. You got to understand something.

You have to find people whether it's your pastor or whether it's the people you connect with in the church who know the real you. And so, Vegas should have nothing on kingdom, folks. You know how they talk about Vegas.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. That's nothing compared to what we're called to be. When you tell me the worst of you, I will guard it with the best of me. See, the Bible says if a brother or sister is overtaken in a fault, Galatians chapter six, you who are spiritual restore in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself.

See, if somebody comes to me, they're fallen, they're messed up, they're jacked up, they blew it royally. According to the word of God, I'm supposed to be spiritual enough to restore. God's plan is always one of restoration. God's plan is never one of condemnation.

He condemns only those who refuse to submit. And so, you've got to find folk who understand it. Those are the spiritual people. Spiritual people aren't people with a big Bible, necessarily. Spiritual people are people who have been through enough where they know what it means to carry the burdens of somebody else.

They would not disrespect you. And you've got to find folks who can handle you. And so, we're told confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. By the way, I've learned more and more these days.

You've got to say this. Accountability doesn't mean you told me what you did. Accountability has to be we're so conversant that I know what you feel like doing. I know what you're tempted to do. I know where the devil's trying to help you go. Come on, somebody.

I know where your flesh is trying to pull you in that direction. Because some folks say, I've got an accountability partner. I told them what I did Friday night. I told them what I... Oh, that's not accountability.

Accountability is Thursday. So, you know, I'm feeling a little... That's what they need to know. Yeah, yeah, pull that out. What is that?

What is that? Let's talk about that. Do I need to be with you tomorrow?

What's going on? You need folk who can walk with you in the things of God, in the path that God has laid out for you. Yes, they can handle your confessions of what you've done, but accountability is designed to not allow that to become a pattern in your life. So now, confess your faults one to another. Pray for one another that you may be healed.

The vertical is only as good as the horizontal. There are things only God can do, but he'll do them in your life as two or more of you connect in unity and come to him with the power of prayer. And Jesus said in Matthew chapter five, verses 23 and 24, he said, even if you are at the altar and there you remember that there is a problem between you and somebody else. Specifically, your brother has something against you.

Look how important this is to God. He says you can be giving your gift to God, giving your offering, giving your sacrifice, your offering, whatever you're bringing to God. He says and you remember that your brother has something against you. What does he say to do? He says leave the altar. Leave that gift right there. Go and be reconciled and then come offer your gift. That's how important it is to God. He said I don't even want your offering.

I don't even want your gift until you've done what you can do to be in unity with other people. That's powerful. That's Jesus talking.

You can't argue with that. Well, see, he just need to understand. No, you need to understand that he said you must be connected with other people. Now, reconciliation requires their cooperation.

Don't get under false condemnation. You cannot ensure reconciliation, but you can certainly offer it because if you don't offer it, sometimes people don't have the character to come to you first and so Jesus said if you know they got a problem with you, don't say well, they don't want the problem. They need to come to me.

No, Jesus said if you know they have a problem with you and you're trying to be in right standing with God, leave your gift, go to them and say hey, it seems like there's something that you've got, some sort of art, some sort of problem, some sort of offense, so tell me how you're feeling and you ever been lied to by somebody who's offended by you? It's all in their face. It's all in their body language. It's all everywhere and then when you finally come to them and say hey, it looks like there's something. Let's talk about that. You all right? There ain't no problem. Well, sure there's a problem. Look at you.

Listen to you. But some people are in denial. Jesus didn't say you had to break through their denial. When people are in denial, they're just there and so you can only attempt reconciliation but at least Jesus is suggesting you do everything within your power to be open to reconciliation and you be proactive in trying to make it happen. If the person doesn't receive it, don't worry.

You can go back and continue to offer your gift and ask the Lord to bless them and help them. Okay, there's another place in Matthew 18. Jesus is serious about this. Beginning at verse 15, he talks about if there is someone who's, there's a trespass between the two of you. Matthew chapter 18 beginning at verse 15.

There is a trespass. There's a problem. Someone has sinned against you. Now in Matthew 5, you know they have a problem.

You don't know what it is but in Matthew 18, you are the one offended. They have sinned against you. What do you do when somebody sins against you? The Bible says you go tell him his fault between you and him alone. In other words, Jesus says here, don't be that person in Matthew 5 who has an art against somebody and you won't go to them.

He says be the person in Matthew 18. Your brother has sinned against you. You are the one that's been sinned against. Jesus says go and tell them their fault between you and him alone. Boy, that takes some maturity because our fleshly tendency is to say you sinned against me. You need to be coming to me and they haven't clearly. So Jesus says okay, then you go and show and Jesus is implying don't be one of those folk who sits around arms folded.

You know what you did. Jesus didn't ask if they knew that they offended you. He said go and show, not go and tell them you know good and well what you did. Some of y'all are so bad, not you but somebody on your row, it's so bad that they have a whole, in their mind they have a whole case they've made against this person and you haven't even had a conversation. He said no, you go and in case they're not fully aware of how what they did offended you, what they said offended you, what they refused to do offended you, whatever it is, actions, omissions, whatever it is, you go and show.

Tell them exactly what they did and how it impacted you. That's what Jesus said. He said go and show and I love this part, between you and him alone because he knows us. He knows that the flesh will want to go and show everybody but the person. Do you know what she had the nerve to do?

Do you know what he had the audacity to do? And everybody around you is familiar with how somebody's trespassed against you. Jesus said that's not the way to do it. Go to the trespasser, just the two of you and talk it out.

Let them know. Do not let your assumptions rule the day. God's plan for his children is always restoration and it always comes as a byproduct of relationship. Well in Mark chapter 10 Jesus tells us that all those who follow him will receive 100 times more than they give up. Yes there will be tough times and sacrifices along the way but following Jesus is always worth it. This month when you give your generous gift to Destin for Victory, be sure to request Pastor Paul's booklet It Pays to Serve Jesus. This outstanding resource will help you learn more about the joy in following him both in this life as well as the one to come. That's Pastor Paul's booklet It Pays to Serve Jesus and it's our gift to you by request for your generous gift to Destin for Victory this month.

Call us at 855-339-5500 to give over the phone or mail your gift to Destin for Victory post office box 1767 Fremont California 94538. You can also make a safe and secure donation from our website pastorpaul.net. You'll only see the power of God when people get on one accord. So that the electricity of the anointing can flow right down your road, right through your church, right through your fellowship, right through your ministry. There's no breakage in the flow of the power of God. And so God's serious about this stuff.

So you have to make sure your horizontal relationships are well managed. That's tomorrow in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message Prayer Matters. Until then remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ you are Destin for Victory.