Why We Pray, Contemplative Prayer (3)

Intro

So, we got to have hope. America is not as bad as El Salvador right now, so there is hope for 2024. Also, to the sister who tried to rebuke Father in Jesus’ name as a demon for one year, I said, “Baby, True Father whooped your ashtray”. She just cried; she was laughing and crying. I said, “Father loves you so much; he whooped you, baby.” Oh my gosh, how amazing is that? Isn't that incredible? She will put that out at some point, I am sure. She is very open with her testimony. What an incredible, powerful testimony.

Today's Word, again, we are 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and it’s talking about the idols.

One other important point about this chapter that I forgot to mention is that they were talking about eating the meat that is offered to idols. The Bible says, “That is not what makes you defiled. But if it's going to cause a stumbling block for your younger brother, don't eat it.” You see what I'm saying? He's saying, “Have a sense of duty for your brother and your sister in the Lord. Even though it doesn't affect you because you're under the authority of Jesus and Christ, don't do stuff that's going to lead them to the idol.” So, before we get in, I just want to remind everybody that this is in 1 Corinthians chapter 8 as well.

Contemplative Prayer (3)

Everybody else join me with closed eyes as we lift up God and we lift up our thanks. Breathing in, “I am alive.” Breathing out, “Thank You, Father” or “Aboji, Kamsahamnida.” If you want to go more authentic, go. “아버지 감사합니다 Aboji, Kamsahamnida”.

Breathing in, “I'm alive.” You can say, “Thank You God.” You can say “Thank You, Father.” You can say, “Thank You, Jesus.” You can say all three. Mix it up. Keep it fresh. We're always going to return to this; this is our fundamental baseline. We need to train. When we're training, we create new baseline. We don't freak out. We don't go to fear or anxiety or worry of the future or blaming or jealousy. No, we go to, “Thank You, Father,” Breathing in, “I'm alive,” breathing out, “Thank You, Father.”

We have to come back to gratitude to Father. Breathing in, “I'm alive.” Breathing out, “Thank You, Father.” You can switch it. Sometimes say, “Thank You, Father”, say, “Thank You, Jesus”, say, “Thank You, God” or say, “Thank You, Holy Spirit.” Breathing in, “I am alive”. Breathing out, “Thank You, Father.”

The Bible says that we come into God's presence with praise and thanksgiving; that means gratitude. We come into the presence of God with praise and thanksgiving. Not praising ourself, not worrying about the future, not being hateful or have any emotion about this or that situation, that incident. No, we turn to God's presence with praise and thanksgiving. That means “Thank You, Lord.” That means, “We honor You, Father.” That means, “We glorify Your name. We love You. We thank You.” All these things are praising the Father, offering thanksgiving to the Father, centering our hearts back to the zero point.

Don't let Satan take you to the 1, 2, 3, 5, 20, 30, 90 points. No, come back always to the zero point. Don't let Satan take you to the minus 2, 3, 5, 8, 20, 40, 80. No. Always come back to the zero point. The zero point. Okay. The zero point. That is praise and thanksgiving. Breathing in, “I'm alive”, breathing out, “아버지 감사합니다.”

Pastor Sean’s Contemplative Prayer

Father, we thank You for all that You are doing at this critical time. It is a dangerous time, a time like no other. You have walked through world wars, Father. You not only walked through the world wars, you were tormented, tortured, imprisoned, forcefully detained, forced to work in labor camps for preaching and teaching people of the truth of God, of the truth of God's suffering heart. You were silenced. You were put into solitary confinement. You were abused, beaten, tortured.

They did all manner of torture upon our True Father from electrocuting Him in His private areas, beating Him with batons, to hanging Him in the airplane crucifixion, that is a rope tying your hands behind your back and then suspending you in air as your lung cavity collapses and you die by suffocation and the filling of the lungs with liquid.

You went that torturous path, the path of indemnity, to redeem humanity from the sins that they have heaped up against You. You walked the path of 10,000 crosses so that Your children would walk into the age of liberation and complete release. You not only paved the way, You not only opened the door, we not only saw Your footsteps in the sand but we saw them drenched in blood. We saw the doorknob of the door that had been opened covered in blood. Your sacrifice is not pink heart emojis; Your sacrifice, just like Jesus on the cross, is blood.

You went that torturous path, the path of indemnity, to redeem humanity from the sins that they have heaped up against You. You walked the path of 10,000 crosses so that Your children would walk into the age of liberation and complete release. You not only paved the way, You not only opened the door, we not only saw Your footsteps in the sand but we saw them drenched in blood. We saw the doorknob of the door that had been opened covered in blood. Your sacrifice is not pink heart emojis; Your sacrifice, just like Jesus on the cross, is blood.

About Our Young Queen’s Testimony

Father, we are so moved by that incredible testimony by our sister, young queen, who gave such an inspirational testimony offered to the Three Kingship this week. We could see the tears of joy in her parents’ eyes, and in her shaky voice as she relayed this incredible story. For one year, she rebuked You, she cursed You; she called You a demon and a devil. She did all that she was trained to do. She rebuked You in Jesus' name, knowing that any demon who had come against her, by the authority of the name of Jesus Christ had to flee, but You just kept on showing up. She would curse You and rebuke You in Jesus’ name and You'd be sitting there.

And at that time when she went to the Philippines for a mission trip, thinking that she had separated from You or had chased You away, You gave her such an incredible experience; her entire body was overcome by the spirit realm, and she couldn't move. You appeared to her saying, “My daughter, why do you persecute me like Paul?” When she uttered those words in her shaky voice telling us that incredible testimony, Father, we just want to report we were just filled with so much gratitude. Seeing her supportive parents in the background of that Zoom call, holding on to her and weeping with joy. Wow! We thank You, Father. We thank You.

This young sister may not be a prime minister or some famous person in the “world”. It is often said that, “Satan fishes with a big net trying to catch generations and everybody, but God fishes after hearts, one by one.” And even though this young queen is not a famous person in the world or some recognized person, we feel so much gratitude that You would leave the 99 to show up to the one that was lost. That in this young sister's darkest time, You just kept on showing up. She heaped those curses upon You; she heaped those rebukes upon You in Jesus' name, but You just kept popping up around this corner, that corner. You just kept on appearing. Father, thank You.

Why We Pray

Father, right now we know there are similar situations across the world; people who have left You and cursed You. People who have made it their lives to destroy Your name; to defile anything that is connected with You. But we want to resemble Your heart, Father. We want to pray for them right now. We want to ask Your grace upon them. We can't turn their hearts around; we can't convince them in the end. Their heart can only be pierced by You. In the very same way, You showed up for that sister of ours, albeit it was a time when she was truly battling, having an existential crisis, and somehow You found a way. We thought we had lost that sister; we thought she had become Your enemy -which she had- and that she would pursue this. So, we prayed for her; anybody who knew her situation was lifting up her name in prayer.

But we know that it's not the reason. You tell us to pray for our brothers and sisters, but You also tell us to pray for our enemies. Not because our prayers have some type of mystical power, but You tell us to pray so that we train our heart to be more like Yours. Let us not be foolish thinking our prayers are the things that change human history and change all these things. No, we don't have that power. Father, we know the one who does and as we pray, we just want to try to resemble You more. The harder she fought against You and tried to rebuke You in Jesus’ name, the more You showed up, indicated to her, “My daughter, I'm not a demon; I'm not the devil.” You showed her who You were and whose she was.

We want to thank You, Father, for that incredible work that You have done; something that is beyond human touch and human ability. None of us can do that. You are not our genie who must obey our commands and our prayers and our demands. NO! You are the Father, and we must obey and submit to You and Your Will. And if You don't answer our prayers, it's because there's a reason; if You stay silent when we are begging You for an answer, there is a reason. But we are so thankful for what You did in our sister's life. You've given her a new life and she now prepares for the Blessing again with her wonderful husband as they return to Your authority once again. Thank You, Father.

Do not be a Stumbling Block for others in the Faith

We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 8 not to become stumbling blocks to others who are in the faith, who are trying to become more Christ-like. There are times when we may feel, “Hey, I'm just going to go out with these guys that don't have faith and I’m just going to try to fit in with them so that they come to Christ. So, I'm going to drink with them, let's say.” But that drinking with them doesn't lead them to Christ; it only validates that they pressured you to sin, so in their hearts they’re validated that they had dominion over You.

For those who are in inner cities in gang-ridden areas with drugs and all that around, Father, we know that there are brothers and sisters out there that are trying to witness, spread the Gospel to the hearts of all those around them, to their towns, communities, cities and world. We pray a hedge of protection upon them; that even though they are in the world, they are not of it. That even though they are soldiers fighting against the evil one, they may not be consumed and absorbed by him. We pray for a supernatural hedge around them. We pray that You always keep them strong, always make them be the light in that darkness. Let Your light shine through them as they reach out, as they become fishers of men, as they fish in the ocean of men.

As You give us that heart Father, to reach beyond our own self, You give us that heart to become a better sacrificial husband, better sacrificial wife, better sacrificial parents, better sacrificial children, better sacrificial brothers and sisters, better sacrificial to our community, to our neighborhood, to our nation, our world and cosmos. As You raise us up in these many levels, we pray that we would not become stumbling blocks. We pray that You would give us wisdom. We ask for Your forgiveness. We repent of our sins. We admit that we are not perfect before You, Lord.

Through Hardship We Become More Brave

We need You in this season more than ever because this season is the season. This season that we are approaching is the most important election cycle in all of world history, and we happen to be alive during this incredible time.

Father, in the midst of this big battle,

Let us not allow our marriages to fall apart.

Let us not be so hyper-focused on the big battle that we let the enemy in through our back door into our home.

Let us do both, keeping our eyes on a North Star while also keeping the wolves at bay from entering and predating on our children, on our marriage, on our community.

Let us have good alertness and have vigilance.

Let us have both the far view and the close view in mind and heart, and even though we are not perfect, we pray that You would train us to become better.

Father, You don't train us to overcome fear or suppress fear or anxiety of the future or those things. You teach us through hardship how to become more brave. You teach us that the only way to build our muscles is through pain and lifting heavy weights and doing hard things. We know sometimes we're stupid. Sometimes we think that doing those hard things makes us worthy in Your eyes. Let us not be foolish. We fall so short. We are so imperfect before Your perfection. We are so stained before Your purity, no matter how hard we try.

That's why we need You, Father. We need You, Jesus. You cover us. You make these stains go away and You wash us as white as snow as the Bible says. You make us clean. We become purified by wearing You. Father, many times You spoke about 성령의 두루마기, the garment of the Holy Spirit, to be wrapped in Christ. Our sins get covered by Christ wrapped around us. We appear as light since Christ is the light of God. Because even though we are sinful, we are wrapped in His garment, in the 성령의 두루마기.

Your Day of Deliverance

Father, we pray for every broken heart that is out there right now listening to this broadcast. You may feel like Your heart is broken, you may feel like Your heart is bending, you may feel like your life is at the end. That you're on that cliff, standing with the wind whirling around you; nowhere to return to, nowhere to go back to. Your family and your friends and your co-workers and all those whom you believed would help you have stabbed you in the back, have left you alone and now you are ready; you're ready to jump into the abyss.

But don't do it, man of God. Don't do it, woman of God. Your life is worthy. Not because you are perfect. None of us is perfect. Your life is worthy because God has created you in His image. He has a purpose and a plan for you. Step back from that edge right now. This is your day of deliverance and salvation. The Father knows your heart better than you know yourself. All the betrayal, all the backstab, He has encountered that first in multitude and in proportions which you cannot comprehend. He suffered and died for you. He was hated by the world before you were hated by anybody. So, we speak life into you and you know who you are. Step back from that edge. Put the gun down. Put the bottle down. Put the drugs down. Put the fake media, social media groups and all those things down. Stop running. Stop running. Stop hiding.

You know who you are if you're hearing this word. Even though we may not know, the Holy Spirit knows, and the Holy Spirit now is going out. He is with you. I want you to come into agreement NOW. If you know that's you, come into agreement now and throw it in the trash. Go! Throw it in the trash. Whatever it is that you are giving your life to other than Christ, whether it be cigarettes or drugs, bottle, whatever, dump it down the toilet; pills, drugs, prostitutes, whatever it is, dump it down the toilet, throw it in the trash and don't look back.

If you feel the swelling of your heart, if you feel the move of the Holy Spirit in you right now and you know you hear the chastisement of His voice, then take action. Come into agreement. Come into agreement with Him. Your Father loves you. He is not forsaking you, even though you have turned on Him so many times. He is still there. Even though you cursed Him and rebuked him in Jesus’ name time and time again, he just keeps on showing up. Stop running.

Repent! Repent!

I know you're tired. There's somebody out there in the internet landscape and those listening to my voice who is tired of running, tired of lies, tired of faking, and wants to make a real commitment to the Lord, to give their heart and submit. For once in their life, they want to stop submitting to the passions and the entertainment, submitting to the internet website, submitting to the bottle, submitting to some drugs or needles. No! This is your day to submit to God, your Creator. This is your day now.

If you know that's you, you don't have to stand up, you don't have to run around and shout, you don't have to be slain in the spirit, you don't have to do any of that. All you have to do in your heart is repent. Repent. Repent.

Just tell God:

Father, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I forsook you. You never forsook me.

I want to be with You.

I want to stop running from You.

I want to walk with You every day and every hour.

I want to stop being a burden to my husband and nagging him and my children.

I want to stop being a burden to my wife and my children by doing this or that.

I want to stop being a burden to that person or my sibling, or my brother in Christ.

I want to stop being a burden and I want to be in You.

You said that within You the burden is light. The burden is light.

Blessing Our Enemies

We thank You for that peace that You give us through forgiveness. And as we receive Your forgiveness, as we repent of our sins, Father, we pray that You would forgive our sins, but also forgive those who have hurt us. We pray that You would bless our enemies in a way that would allow them to come to reality to Your truth and to Your sacrificial love, the blood drip emoji not the pink heart emoji.

That You would move in their spirit and call them back to You, call them back to repentance, call them back to mercy, call them back to forgiveness, call them back to your sacrificial love. Because it's Your sacrificial love, it's Your blood that heals and protects and covers and lifts us into the realm of glory. It's Your sacrifice. That same blood; as we come into Your covenant of the Blessing, we have Your blood as Your children running through our veins. We're not only covered by the blood; we are now made up of the blood.

But dear God, we know that You come not just to bless us, but You say, “If you follow me, pick up your cross. Be willing to be persecuted and mocked, even killed for my name's sake.” For You have gone that path first. You have showed the example on the battlefield first. You paid the ultimate price.

Blessings upon the Repentful

We are so grateful Father for Your presence. If there's anybody who wants to give their life to You, we pray for them. We pray strengthen them. We pray words of encouragement upon their spirit right now, so they would have the courage to leave death and come into life, to leave the heavy burdens of fakery and failure and sin, and come into the light refreshing joy of redemption salvation.

We thank You Father as You replenish us from our fears where You have said in Timothy that “You have not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind.” We thank You for purifying our hearts and our minds, bringing us back to the zero point, the zero point.

We want to give You praise today, Father, because there are hearts right now that are turning; there are hearts right now that are giving their lives to You.

We pray blessings upon them right now.

We pray for those who are repenting of their sins right now in their hearts. They're not saying one word to anybody else, and they don't have to. It's all within that secret place in the heart, where all true change begins, where all new life truly begins, where the seed of hope is planted.

We pray for that soul who is addicted to drugs and has no hope.

We pray for the prostitute who is on the street pimping and prostituting herself.

We pray that the seeds of hope can be planted in their heart right now, supernaturally through this broadcast or any other means.

We pray for all those who are being touched by the Spirit in their heart who want to repent of their sins, that they do it now in Jesus and True Father's name as one.

We do it again with them, stand in solidarity with them, stand in agreement with them; as brothers and sisters in Christ we stand with them in repentance.

We repent of our sins again.

We ask You to be the center of our life, the center.

We’re not trying to make ourselves the center.

We make You the center.

We submit to You,

We obey You out of love;

We put Your Will before our will,

Your glory before our glory,

Your plans before our plans,

Your life before our life.

We put it down for You because we've tried our own ways and it never works, never works.

Jesus and True Father as One

We thank You for the new life right now that is being breathed in, the new spiritual salvation that is being breathed in to those who are giving their lives to You at this moment throughout the world hearing this broadcast. Repent of Your sins. Believe in Jesus and True Father as one, that He is Lord, that He suffered and walked the path of indemnity, died for your sins and was raised up on the third day. That same power of resurrection and new life is now planted within you. Let it germinate. Let it flourish even though the thorns and thistles will try to come and suffocate it. Be as good soil. Let that word of hope pierce through the darkness of despair. Let that seed germinate and push down roots into the hard stone. Life and its failures and the vicissitudes and the betrayals have hardened your heart. Let the roots penetrate that stone in Jesus’ name and True Father as one.

We pray a new future upon every single one who has rededicated their life to You, Father. We pray a new vision for their lives, new plans being downloaded from heaven, new spreadsheets being opened up in the ether; things that they never thought possible now opening up not with a false hope but with a strong hope and with discipline, as You raise and sanctify them through training.

You are victorious

Let us come strong and build strong community by sacrificial love and by loving You and loving our neighbor. Let us reach out and be fishers of men and cast the lines into the ocean waiting with great anticipation which fish will be caught today. We know You love that metaphor Father, and you lived that metaphor. So many times, we were with You on the boats experiencing that. We can't do it upon our own strength or our own desires or wishes and our own prayers. It would really mean nothing if it wasn't for You, Father. For You are victorious; You are victorious.

We want to remind the Devil of Your victory. We want to remind the Devil of Your triumph over him, sin and death. We want to remind him every day with every footstep, because he doesn't want to remember Your victories. But we want to remind him. We want to be a living testimony every day with each footstep. New life with each footstep. The devil's kingdom is crumbling because we are walking following Your footsteps.

As kings and priests and as men of God, let us not pursue just our own kingdom, but always Yours, Your Kingdom first. Let Your Kingdom pillar of self-sacrifice and the shedding of Your own blood to save Your people, let that be the ideal and the model that we as men and kings and priests from the family level on, always keep our eyes on.

And as women of God let each one of Your daughters, Father, remember Your love, not as heart emojis but as blood drips, the blood You had to pay to free them from Satan. Let them be great queens and evangelists, excited and with hearts that are burning for You and burning to share the Gospel, to bring people to the Kingdom, and let them live life abundantly in Your Kingdom of heaven on Earth as it is in Heaven.

We Thank You, Father

Father, You are such a good father. We want to praise You, we want to lift You up, we want to honor You today. We love You. We are not perfect, Father, but we are Your sons and daughters who love You and we try. We fall short many times, but we thank You for covering us in Your grace. We thank You for covering America with Your grace at this particular time. So many people now are waking up in this critical year. We pray for all the patriots, we pray for President Trump, we pray for all those who are on the Abel side of this World War III in the situation that we are in now.

We pray from the micro to the macro, that we never lose sight of the micro while we are fighting on the macro, that we never lose sight of the macro while we are building the micro. Let us be men of God, women of God who do both, that can be sensitive to Your Will at the micro and the macro.

We thank You, Father, we thank You. Once again, we thank You for touching our sister who has now returned under Your authority after one year of incredible journey. We want to celebrate her as well today.

As we lift up all our prayers and all our hearts to You, we want to lift up the glory, the thanks and the honor. All praise, all joy is Yours and You give us joy unspeakable through Your grace. We thank You Father, we thank You. We know that we are alive as we breathe in, and as we breathe out, we want to say, “Thank You, Father.” As we breathe in, we are alive, and we recognize it today. As we breathe out, we want to thank You, Father. Breathing in, “I am alive”. Breathing out, “아버지, 감사합니다. Aboji, Kamsahamnida.”

Al right, folks, let's all rise up and give Father the praise, the glory and the honor, and lift up our songs in praise to Him. Praise God!

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