I Come Out Of Agreement

All right. Well, I just wanted to share a few things with you this morning as we are getting ready. Time just seems to be going that much faster, that much quicker. And I feel like slowing down a little bit is always just a harder thing to do in this November, December, January time.

But recently I was making dinner — and I’ve probably shared this before, but when I’m making dinner is probably one of the times that I feel the most in tune with the Lord. I think because I’m actively doing something, I’m not super distracted. I mean, I’m still distracted, but I’m not super distracted. I’m making dinner. Generally people are not home, so I can sing as loud as I want. No one’s going to be like, “Mom, is that you? You sing?” I really do sing off-key. So I can sing as loud as I want.

I would not say that worship is where I feel most connected. It’s probably just in prayer and reading Scripture. I love that. But there’s something about putting worship music on and realizing, as I’m preparing dinner, how holy that really is, how sacred that really is — to create a place and a space and a meal for my family, to really even reflect on God’s goodness and faithfulness to our family. It’s just a time that I love to give back to the Lord.

“I come out of agreement”

And I was listening to this album. It had cycled through, and I was like, “Oh, I forgot — her name’s Kim Walker-Smith — I forgot that I really like her music.” So I asked Alexa to play Kim Walker-Smith, and she’s playing whatever variation, and this song came on, and these words began to just ring with me. It’s been probably about two or three weeks, and I realized that I just wanted to present something to you as I’m teaching from the Word, to prepare our hearts, because it stuck with me and I think this matters.

I don’t even know the title of the song, but the words that she was singing were, “I come out of agreement. I come out of agreement with the lie that You have left me on my own.” And so basically she keeps singing the song: I come out of agreement with what says You’ve left me. And then she says, I come into agreement with the truth of who You are, that You’ve never left me. But those words stuck with me: I come out of agreement.

And this is the other thing — there was another place that I had heard it. Has that ever happened to you? You hear one thing one place, and then you hear a very similar type of message somewhere else, and then maybe by the third time you’re just like, “Oh, Lord, are You trying to get my attention?” It was one of those things. That really was the cap on it. There were some things that the Lord had been stirring in my heart about things that I’ve come into agreement with in my life — words that I’ve spoken, regrettably, to my children, even about our church. And not in a negative way, but things that we come into agreement with, not even realizing it actually brings us out of agreement with God’s promises and His hope for our lives. And we end up partnering with things that are not of the Lord. And we come into agreement so easily with these things.

And so we’re going to talk about it today, because I want us to be a church — as we’re entering into this busy season — that would not just let words be what words normally are, that we wouldn’t be ruled by fear, but that we would ask the Lord. And we’re going to walk through a practice at the end, that the Lord would show us. Because I don’t believe that you need to go on a witch hunt for every word you’ve ever said. I think it is impossible to do that. But we do have the Holy Spirit, who is our teacher, who wants to show us and reveal things in us. It says in Scripture that all things in the dark will be brought to light. And I believe that could be good and bad. I believe that goes both ways.

And so today we’re just going to talk about some things that maybe we have come into agreement with, and we’re going to ask the Holy Spirit to show us. It is really important that we rightly use the Word of God, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, to consider the words that have been spoken over us, and the words that we’ve spoken over people or situations, that might be limiting us or limiting relationships that we are in. We are called to be people — as parents and friends and families and believers — who are sent to shape our lives.

I see it a lot on social media right now, a lot of these words like, “You can manifest your dreams.” I don’t know if anyone’s heard that — just manifest, manifest. And it’s in part true, because Scripture is alive. It says that our words matter. But the world has taken this principle and twisted it, and it sounds almost too good to be true. And some people can be like, “I manifested this in my life.” But it is taking the Word of God and twisting it. And so I want us to be people who know how to rightly use our words, a people who understand the impact of our words, a people who understand the impact that people’s words have had over us.

So today I’m going to have you turn — we have a lot of Scripture, and I might not go through all of it. I want you to write down the whole portion of Scripture and go back and study it yourself. I think that is important to do. Jay and I, or whoever is teaching, really, to the best of our ability, want to preach with integrity, being led by the Spirit. But we’re also going to get maybe a few things wrong. That’s just going to happen, or these are going to be flavored one way or another. And so it’s important for you to read the Scripture. It’s important for you to navigate the Scripture for yourself. I mean, I guess if this is all the time you want to eat, then cool — not cool. Or you can go home and read Scripture and allow the Lord to reveal Himself to you through His Scripture.

Out of the abundance of the heart

So in Matthew 12:33 — this comes after the Pharisees are accusing Jesus of casting out demons by Satan’s power. They’re at this point in their walk, in their life, that they are willfully rejecting the power of God, rejecting the truth, and speaking against Jesus and His ministry. And so Jesus says this. He says, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

What we see here is that our words are a partnership with our heart and will reflect our life — so much so that we will all have to give an account for the words we say. Now, when I think about that, there is a weightiness that comes with that. Jesus was talking to the Pharisees here. However, when we read Scripture, we need to understand how that relates to our life today.

There were probably five things my mom would always say, and I’m touching two of them in Scripture today. My mom would say, “Suzie, out of the abundance of your heart.” She wouldn’t even finish the whole sentence. She would just say, “Suzie, out of the abundance of your heart.” And the second thing she’d always say to me is, “Suzie, death and life are in the power of your tongue.” See, I’ve been a chatty kid ever since I was little. Go figure. And so I understood at a very young age the impact that my words could have, the impact of how I could use my words, how I could persuade someone, get someone to do something. I’ve had a very good understanding of that since I was a little girl.

But what we see here is the impact of our words: we’re going to give an account. And thank goodness I am not the judge. I don’t know how He does it, by any means. That’s not my responsibility. My responsibility is to live in a way that is in congruency with the Word of God, that lives in submission and walks in a place of repentance and walks in a place of receiving forgiveness for myself, and I leave the rest to the Lord. We are to allow Scripture to speak to us and change who we are. But the reality is, Jesus was addressing that with your words you’re either speaking life or you’re speaking death. You’re speaking good or you’re speaking bad. But out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth speaks.

What does being right cost you?

What we say matters. Being right can cost us so much. We are in a time where I believe we must consider our words and how we speak. In this time and age, in my opinion, one of the greatest temptations is to have an opinion about everything, to know everything, and to be right. But for what? What does being right really cost you?

And I believe, as we look at Scripture and we think about the weight that we carry as believers — the impact and the influence that is intended to happen when we live like Christ, because that’s what being a Christian means, being a Christ follower — the impact that can have in every situation we walk into.

Proverbs 4:20–27 says this: “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life. Put away your deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the left or to the right, and remove your foot from evil.” Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you.

Here’s what I’m not saying. I’m not saying that we need to sit back and not have an opinion. I’m not saying we need to sit back and not say anything. I’m not saying that we sit back and just be silent. But Scripture, and Proverbs too — if you just read through Proverbs — over and over and over it’s talking about the words that come out of your mouth.

See, I believe the reason that we are to consider the words that we’re saying, and the reason we need to be guardians of not just our words but what comes into our heart, is because we are intended to have impact and influence wherever we find ourselves. We’re intended to impact and influence our families, our coworkers, wherever we go. If we just flippantly continue to say whatever we want to say because it sounds good, sounds right, or because it satisfies something, we’ll find ourselves losing the place of seeing the glory of God move.

Only what the Father says

When I look at Jesus’ life, He ministered freely, but He wasn’t just flippant about everything He said. It blows my mind that Judas, who was going to betray Him, was in ministry with Him, living life with Him, and He never says anything to him. He just lets him. He lets him run the money. Jesus wasn’t dumb. There were just very few things that Jesus wasn’t interested in saying. And He says, “I only say and do what I hear My Father say and do.” Think about that, if we just look at it in the simple, small things that we know.

And I’m going to tell you, it wasn’t like Jesus was living in these great times and everything was hunky-dory, so Jesus had nothing to address. No, Jesus was living in some polarizing times. Jesus was living in a time when there was a lot He could have said, and He could have been right about a lot of things. But He lived in submission to His Father first. And because He lived in submission to His Father, both in action and word, it allowed Him to minister freely and with confidence and authority and boldness in places that might have been missed had He continued walking to be right about things.

So I believe in this season we need to understand that to be people who have impact and influence, we need to be people who are committed to only saying and doing what our Father tells us to say and do. Now, that’s really uncomfortable if you think about it, because I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things. Like, a lot of things. That’s just me. Maybe that’s not you.

I was at a lacrosse game yesterday, and I had my hood — it was cold. I had a hood on, and then I had my jacket hood on. And there was this dad from the other team, and he would not stop. And so I just first moved myself. I stood next to Jay, first didn’t say anything, and this dad kept going and going. And so then he got me all riled up, and I’m like, “What is this guy’s problem?” Don’t get me wrong, I am one of the most opinionated people there are. So when I’m saying this — to live in submission, to only say and do what my Father says — that’s weighty and hard. That means that there’s a lot of my preferences and values I’m going to have to put aside. And in my forty-four years, I’ve already created a lot of values and preferences. I prefer not to stand next to someone who’s not cheering for my team. I prefer to let the refs be the refs most of the time. So I just kept moving myself, and I was still annoyed by it after.

Matthew chapter 10, verse 16, says this: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” The call is to be wise and harmless, but to be led.

Remember I told you guys I needed a new Bible? I have a new Bible, and now everything is sticking together. Oh, it’s Matthew 10. Sorry.

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the council and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.” Again, Jesus is speaking at this time to Israel. But we still need to consider, if it’s here for us to read, what that might mean for us. “But when” — not if, but when — “they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

He goes on to say how they’re going to bring you and they’re going to persecute you. But He says very clearly: don’t be so consumed about what you’re going to say. Trust in the Holy Spirit, and that the Spirit of the Father will speak through you.

The Father’s love for us isn’t that we get it right, but that He would lead us. I’m going to say that again. The Father’s love for us is not that we’re going to get it right, but that He’s going to lead us. Are we in a place in our relationship with our heavenly Father where we trust in His leading? Are we in a place where we trust Him and what His instruction is? Because His instruction is to walk in His wisdom, to walk in His gentleness, to walk in His discernment, confident that He’s already prepared us ahead of time for what we need to speak in those moments. Our words matter. And what we believe about the Lord, and how He wants to be glorified, is also impacted by our words.

Just think about it. I used to have this perception like, “Well, then I just won’t say anything. I can’t say anything, right? I’ll just sit here and be quiet.” That was always my solution: I’ll just be quiet. Am I the only one? I’m all or nothing sometimes. I can’t just be in process. I’m like, either this is working or it’s not. And so I’ve learned that no, it’s about leaning in and learning, growing in my confidence in the Lord, that He has us where we are in our circumstances. Because we’re all facing different circumstances in this room. All of us are walking through different struggles, different trials, different victories.

And so it’s so easy to be all or nothing, right? If we’re in a hard thing, it’s easy to be like, “Jesus, I’m all Yours. Anything You want — all my life is Yours,” all gung-ho because things are desperate. And then when things get good, we forget. Like, “Oh, I forgot He wants to speak to me. I forgot that He wants to be in relationship with me.” We can all be that. That’s a tendency of humanity, I think. We’re kind of all over the place. But He wants us to be a people who walk with His redeeming grace into situations.

Our citizenship is in heaven

I am very much aware that during the holiday time, this is when we see the most of people being disconnected from their family, where there’s unresolved stuff, where there’s hurt and there’s pain. This is the time when we are most likely to choose to do it our way — in isolation, away from family, in boundaries, and all these things. And the Lord is saying, “No, come. I want you to come and live in concert with Me, and say only what I would have you say, and do only what I would have you do.” See, the Lord is always looking to redeem time.

We’re also living in a time and a day and age where to say anything that might resemble the truth, to have some sort of opinion or thought about something, might coin you as something. We’re now living in a time when people just like to categorize and say, “Well, that person might be this way or that. Oh, they’re this.” And even we ourselves have probably spoken words. And this is where I want us to understand. What are the words that we’re speaking over the situations and circumstances we find ourselves in?

There is a political climate that we’re all living through, right? We all have our own thoughts about whatever is happening. What are the words that you are speaking, as a believer whose first identity should actually be in Christ and Christ alone? It’s not the political party. It’s not our political preference. It’s that I’m a child of God. That’s literally where He puts us. When we give our life to Jesus, it says we’re no longer citizens here on earth. Our citizenship is now in heaven. Which means that the things that matter to me more need to be the things of heaven, more than even the things of earth.

But yet everyone’s telling me I really need to worry about the things of earth. And it’s not in concert. And the reason it’s not in concert is because we’re allowing the world to define certain things for us, and then we’re trying to make God fit into that. When the certain reality is, He’s saying, “Old things have passed away; behold, you are a new creation.” Our authority, our attention, are on things above and in heaven. But that’s not how we operate. We have a whole host of anything you want to believe, a whole host of all this stuff telling us how our God should be responding to whatever it is.

And if we — and I include myself in this — don’t rightly understand the Word of God, the nature of who He is, how He works, and wrestle through places in Scripture when my value system seems to be in contrast with the Word of God, we will be swept up with everyone else. You will be offended by everyone else. Offense ends up being bitterness. And bitterness, Scripture talks about, is a root that takes hold. And we don’t want to have a root that takes hold, because when I have a root that takes hold, it makes me ineffective to love how I’m supposed to love, how Christ calls me to love.

Scripture actually says, when someone slaps you, you know what we’re supposed to do? Turn the other cheek. That makes no sense. I couldn’t even stand next to the man who was saying the ref was wrong. You want me to turn the other cheek? But when I’m being formed and shaped into who Christ has called me to be, it’s so much easier to walk away. It’s so much easier to extend grace. See, our words, and the impact of words, matter because they impact how we choose to live.

Not to be right, but to be set right

So this is just from a church standpoint. And I’m going to say this because Jay and I navigate through it. Being pastors, people expect us to talk about things, or have an opinion about things, and say things about things. And I was thinking about this the other day. I was walking my dog, and I often think, “Am I not saying enough? Am I not doing enough?” And I thought, Lord, if they need me to tell them how to think about something, then I’ve not done a good job leading them back to You. Because He’s pretty clear on some things in Scripture.

And if Scripture isn’t the thing that is guiding you and me — and I say myself because I’m in this world with you. I am not immune to any sort of temptation. I am immune to nothing at all. If we are not going back to Scripture to let it shape our life and our mouth and how we choose to live, then what are we even doing? Because Scripture is to revitalize and change us.

See, our words as a church — I’m speaking to the church — absolutely matter. I was talking to the young woman who was doing a Bible study with me, and we were reading through, and I said, you know, people oftentimes will say, when people start going to church, “Oh, you’ve changed. Oh, you’re brainwashed. Oh, now you think like them.” They start saying all these things. And it’s like, yes. Yes. If I’m reading Scripture, I should be changing. If I’m living for Christ, my mind should be being transformed. If I’m engaging, then there’s going to be a unity that I’m desiring over all of these things.

So yes, if you’re coming to church and you’re growing in your relationship with Jesus, you should be changing. You should not be the same. I should not be the same. I should not be in the same place today that I was ten years ago, that I was five years ago. It says in Scripture — I think in Romans — that we’re to transform our mind by reading the Word of God, that our faith grows by hearing the Word of God. There is growth and change that is intended to happen in our minds and in ourselves. And the world has classified that as brainwashing. But I’m telling you, that’s what the Word of God is supposed to do. It’s supposed to wash me clean. It’s supposed to be my hope and my anchor — not that I get to just see how Jesus fits into everything, because He doesn’t.

And so our hope is that we would continue to lean you towards Jesus, that we would have conversations that say, “Hey, I feel this way about something, but Scripture says this. How do I reconcile the two?” Because there is a reconciling that needs to happen. So our words as a church matter, wherever we go. We are to be digging into Scripture not to be right, but to be set right.

Jesus got away often to be with His Father, because He only wanted to say and do what the Father led Him to do — not be right. His climate was about the same. He was likely tempted to pick a side. He was likely tempted to stand on His pedestal. He was likely tempted, because it says that He knows what we’re going through. And yet He chose obedience every time. He chose to stick closer to His Father.

Proverbs chapter 18, verse 16, says this: “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” Just think about that. We want to have influence and impact. It’s a promise in Scripture that God’s giftedness in you is intended to bring you in front of kings. “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” Not so that we could be right, but so that God would be glorified. He’s created us in a way that He wants to bring us into places where we feel like we’re in over our head, yet we can confidently walk in knowing that He got us there. Therefore He will sustain us and give us the words that He wants us to speak. He’s called us to go into places that are dark.

The words spoken over us

But with this whole idea of our words, with that promise, oftentimes we’re paralyzed by the things that have also been said over us. See, this is twofold. There is the big-C Church, and there is the responsibility that the church has. But oftentimes we are paralyzed by the words that have been spoken over us. There are people who should have been guardians, before we were able to be guardians of our own hearts, who have spoken words in some of our most vulnerable moments that still impact us today.

As I was studying and reading and processing through this, I know there are things that I have regrettably said to my kids in fear, in anger, in frustration — words that are curses and death, that they still come around and partner with sometimes. Because as their mom, I should have been speaking one thing, but instead I was reactive to a situation. Anyone here? All right. Well, I’m here. I’m telling you that there have been times I’ve spoken words out of reaction, out of fear, out of anger. And as someone who has impact in their life, I understand: man, that was bad.

And I’ve been thinking about this. Like I said, there’s no way that I could possibly go back and apologize for everything to any one of my kids. Or even more so, there are things I’ve regrettably said to people in my life, people that I was leading. There have been times that I’ve not been able to say, “Hey, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’m in process.” I can’t go back and fix everything. But I can say, “Lord, whatever it is, would You just show me? Would You show me the lies?” Because there are lies that I still wrestle through, that people spoke over me, that impact how I live for Christ. There are words and judgments that have been spoken over me that I still navigate daily, that shape how I approach any situation.

I only use myself as the example, because it’d be unfair to use my kids. It’d be unfair to use my husband. So I only use myself, because I know that there have been things that have and haven’t been done to me where there’s no way for it to be made right. So then what do you do?

I’ve been processing some things, like, “Okay, Lord, what do You need?” And this is what we’re going to go to in a little bit. But, Lord, You want to show us, because it says that the Holy Spirit is our teacher. He’s our comforter. And the Holy Spirit wants to show us how to navigate through these things.

But why does it matter? Why do the words that we speak matter? Why does it matter that we address the words that have been spoken over us? It says in Proverbs 18:20–21 — I think it’s 18 — “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he will be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

When there are lies and curses and judgments that have been spoken over us, it doesn’t always, but it can, shape our actions and the way we live. Our life is reflected through the things that we say. Just think for a moment about how you sometimes feel about yourself when you make a mistake, when you do things wrong. What pops up in your head? Maybe nothing. Because the Lord heals the brokenhearted, and when we are in concert with Him, He brings healing to things that we don’t even know He does. But sometimes there are those things and lies that have been spoken that like to linger.

See, to speak life is to speak God’s perspective. To speak death is to declare a negative perspective, agreements of defeat, in partnership with complaining. That impacts how we live. We don’t have to be bound by the fear of our words, but we get to be free to declare God’s promises and perspective over our life. That is not the wrong thing to do — to say, “I’m a child of God, fearfully and wonderfully made. He said that His gifting will put me in rooms with great people. God, so form my day today. Show me what’s holding me back.” That’s how we should be walking as believers.

But so many times I’ve found myself in a place — and I have had the privilege and honor to lead with Jay for the majority of our life, since we started dating. We’ve been married for twenty-two years, and we have been in ministry together the majority of our time together, either coexisting or doing separate things. I remember when we were in California, I had a group of about fifty kids, and I was like, “I just need a guy in here.” So I was like, “Hey, Jay, can you come and lead kids’ church with me?” And he’s like, “Sure.” And then he was doing something and I was like, “I just need a girl.” So Jay and I have had the privilege and honor to lead together, and it’s been really messy, because we were really young and very immature. And so we’ve grown and matured together.

That being said, do you know how many times the enemy comes with lies that I’m not like Jay, and he’d be the better one for the job? That’s really just rooted in rejection that I experienced as a child. And the Lord wants to bring healing. And I could either sit back and be pouty about it, like, “Oh, I’m not as good as Jay,” or, “God, no, You’ve fearfully and wonderfully made me.” First of all, I’m not in competition with him. He’s not in competition with me. You’ve called us together, and You’ve put me in this place. See, that’s how we’re supposed to be walking as believers.

There have been plenty of times I walked into a room and thought Jay is way more suited for this. That’s because the enemy likes to come with these lies: that I’m not good enough, I’m a woman, I’m not smart enough, I’ve ruined it before, who am I? The enemy likes to come. And those are all rooted in things people have said to me before. People have said some really nasty things — maybe people have said some nasty things to you. And I either need to be mature and grow in who Christ is, and allow Him to pull those things out of me and replace them with the Word of God, and build myself up in my faith, and allow Him to bring healing to my life, so that I can go into every place that He has called me to be.

Not everything negative will have an impact, but there are things that we have said that do have impact. I believe that there are words that we have probably spoken over people jokingly. And it’s not that you can’t joke or have fun — don’t hear me in that. There is no way that we can possibly know what every person’s going through at any moment, their life experience. There’s no way, right? And there’s no way for people to know that about us. So as believers, we extend grace if people say stuff, and we hope grace is extended to us if we put our foot in our mouth. Again, I’m a foot-in-my-mouth person.

A practice: bringing lies to the light

But there are things that we’ve said. And so what I want us to do today — we have a few minutes left. I believe that the Lord wants to bring these lies to the light. So it’s pretty simple. Like I said, we don’t have to be overwhelmed, like, “Oh my gosh, Suzie, do you know how old I am? This is a lifetime of things.” No, we’re going to just do a simple practice, which really is just a practice of learning to also be confident that the Lord speaks to us. Because I hear that so often: “He doesn’t speak to me. I don’t know His voice.”

So we’re going to just do a simple practice. I’m going to have them put on just low music. Part of the reason I’m having low music is that for some of us, a little bit of music creates enough of a distraction that we can focus. And for other people, I understand that a little bit of music is enough of a distraction that they can’t focus. But when it’s completely silent, all of a sudden you’re like, “What’s that noise? Was that my kid crying? Did someone just leave?” So we’re going to just have them play low music.

I don’t know if you guys have pens or paper, but there’s an info card on the back of everyone’s pew. I want you to pull that card out, and there’s a pen. This is for you. You’re not turning this back in to me. You can throw this away. You can do whatever you want to do with it. But we’re just going to do something really simple. We’re going to sit, and we’re going to listen, and we’re going to write down whatever comes to mind — lies that we believe about ourselves, or negative words that we’ve spoken to someone else. Really simple, right?

So we’re just going to say, “Lord, would You show me what lies I’m believing because of words that were spoken over me? Would You show me how that’s holding me back?” And then the same thing: “Lord, would You just show me the words that I’ve spoken over other people that might have been seeds of doubt, or curses, or death — that I didn’t mean to, but that I’ve spoken over other people?” So we’re asking both: Would You show me the lies that I believe? Would You also show me if I’ve ever spoken anything over someone else? So we’re going to do that for about three minutes, and then I’ll walk you through the next part.

All right. So it’s pretty simple. I’m going to pray over you, but as I’m praying over you, all you need to say is, “Lord, I come out of agreement with the words that say I’m a mistake. Lord, I come out of agreement.” If there’s something specific: “I come out of agreement with the words that my neighbor said about me, and I forgive him.” Whatever it is — if you know the source of that word, release the person.

And this is just good practice that we should be doing often, not just here at church. That’s why I want us to do it together. We’ve got to learn how to come out of agreement with those words. And really, it’s not that complicated. It’s just a little bit of work. “I come out of agreement,” and then we replace it. “God, I release forgiveness. Would You fill me up with Your grace to continue to walk in forgiveness towards them? Lord, I come out of agreement with judgment towards that parent,” or whatever it is that you maybe have written down.

And then, “Lord, would You forgive me?” We could ask, “Would You forgive me for the words that I’ve spoken over this person?” or whatever it is. “Lord, would You forgive me for being careless with my words?” If nothing comes to mind: “Lord, would You forgive me for being careless with the power You’ve given me?” Because He’s given us the power to bless, and He’s given us the power to curse, and our words absolutely matter.

“Lord, would You help me release the places where I feel bitterness in my heart towards this person because of the actions that they did to me? I want to forgive and release them. That’s not my burden to carry.” He actually says it in one of these scriptures: “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies will not escape.” And it’s not that we’re requesting judgment over them. It’s saying, “God, I trust in Your provision and in Your ability to be the judge, so that I can release them freely. It’s not my responsibility to hold on to this. It’s Your responsibility to get a hold of their heart. It’s Your responsibility to bring accountability to their actions. It’s Your responsibility to do this, not mine. I’m not the judge. So I release them into Your hands.” See, this is what the life of a believer is supposed to look like. “God, would You reveal in me what other things I’m hanging on to?”

So that’s how I’m going to encourage you guys to pray. It doesn’t have to be like that. We all pray differently, in our own words, but you guys, I think, get the gist. And I’m going to be praying over you as you’re praying — that if there are things, as we go, we wouldn’t just let them be. We don’t have to be so concerned, like, “Oh my gosh, everything — that’s the enemy.” No. “God, all I’m asking is to speak life. It’s partnering with Your perspective. So help me walk in Your perspective this week. That’s it. And then if I say something, Lord, would You just, by Your Holy Spirit, teach me and ping me?”

That’s the freedom we have in Christ, that we don’t have to be so consumed by fear about everything we say. No. “God, just help me to walk in Your perspective.” So I’m going to pray over you. I would encourage you to pray that He would continue to show you the seeds, or things that are lingering. And then this week, as you go throughout your week, if something comes to mind, don’t just ignore it. Take care of it. “God, I thank You — this just popped into my mind.” And then just walk through that process again. We would just give attention to it. That’s the purpose of it: that He lives in concert with us. He calls us into relationship. That’s the beauty of it.

All right. I think you understand how to just pray and release, or ask for forgiveness, or release forgiveness. I’m going to pray over us, and then we’ll have some people up here to pray for you if you’d like prayer after, or if you’re like, “Hey, that didn’t make any sense. Can you help me navigate through that?” I’m here for that, too. All right. So if you would just close your eyes.

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You are the giver of life, Lord, that You are the giver of hope, that You’re the giver of peace, that You are the giver of joy. But, Lord, we also acknowledge the very fact that we have been people who have said deeply regrettable, harmful things over people, in jest, in trying to get their attention, in fear and anger. And, Lord, we’ve also been recipients of people’s words that have been spoken over us in anger and fear and frustration. Lord, we’ve been both people who have sinned against people and people who have been sinned against.

And so, God, right now, as You’ve brought these things to mind, we release the people. God, we release the people who have said harmful things to us that have impacted how we live, that have impacted us so that we have something to prove, that have impacted the way that we’ve chosen to live our life. God, we release them, and we say we forgive them. Lord, I know that sometimes seems so trite and so easy, but, God, Your Word says that vengeance is Yours. And, Lord, while we do not want judgment or vengeance on them, we say that You will be the one who will take care of what needs to be taken care of. And in the same way, God, as we’re asking for forgiveness and asking for Your grace, we ask that Your grace and forgiveness would be extended to them. That Your grace and forgiveness would be extended to them, God. And we put those people at Your feet. We surrender those situations to You, God.

And then, Lord, we ask that there would be a release in our hearts and in our minds over words that have been spoken over us — the death, the curses that people didn’t even realize they were saying. Maybe even things like, “Well, that’s just so-and-so,” or, “This is just their personality; that’s how they’re always going to be,” not recognizing that they were partnering with lies and coming into agreement over my life — agreement they didn’t even have permission to have. So, God, we just declare right now, in the name of Jesus, that those places that have been like hooks in us, God, would be released. Lord, we release Your truth of who You say we are, the truth of life in You. That our minds would be transformed into who You say that we are. That our lives and our minds would be transformed and be renewed by Your Word.

That those things that have held us back from walking confidently in the boldness that You have created us for, to walk boldly into the things that You have for us — God, we want to come into partnership with that. We want to come into partnership with the goodness of God. God, we pray that those things would come off of us. If there are things that are like scales that are trying to stick, Lord, we ask that in the Spirit You would just wipe us clean. We come out of agreement with death that has been spoken over us. We come out of agreement with curses that have been spoken over us. We come out of agreement with negativity that’s been spoken over us.

We thank You that Your Holy Spirit is our teacher. That means that as we are in progress, the Holy Spirit will show us. God, we pray that You would send people into our lives who would speak truth that is rooted in who You are, God. That You would continue to help us grow into who You’ve called us to be, God. We thank You for this. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You that You don’t ever want to leave us the same, Lord, but You want us to walk in the fullness and the goodness of who You are. Lord, we thank You for Your goodness and faithfulness.

Lord, I pray that if things come to mind this week, we would be active to come out of agreement, Lord. I pray that if we are reckless with our words, or have a perverse mouth, or even if we’re just cussers or whatever it is, Lord, that our hearts would just be transformed by Your Word. That’s it, Lord. That You would do it by Your Holy Spirit. I don’t need to say, “That’s wrong, that’s wrong, that’s wrong.” No, You do it. You show us through Your Word. You show us through Your Holy Spirit the places that we need to get into alignment. So we trust You. We trust You in Your goodness. We trust You because You are faithful and just. And You, God, want us to be perfected in You until You return. We thank You for all of these things. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. And amen. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.