Stephanie Ike - Know thy Heart

Know Thy Heart
So we're going to go right into the text. There are a few things that we need to cover. And today's message is titled "Know Thy Heart." It sounds very like King James-ish, you know, thy, thou, but it's called "Know Thy Heart." And we're just going to jump right into it. So let's go into Jeremiah 17 verses 9 to 10.

Jeremiah 17:9-10
Now the passage says the heart is deceitful above all things. Now it's interesting because when it talks about the heart being deceitful, it doesn't mean that, you know, the heart is just deceptive. But that word also carries the meaning of polluted. And so as a result of the heart being polluted, it can mislead you. And it says it is desperately wicked.

Now again, it's not talking about, it's not saying that your heart is wicked. A lot of times we use this to say, you know, men are just wicked people because the heart is desperately wicked. But that word is just talking about when you break down the word, what it means is that as a result of its illness, it is desperate for something. And so because the heart understands that it is polluted, it is in need, it is desperate because it understands the state of its illness. And then it says, "Who can know it?" And this is God talking. And then He says, "I the Lord search the heart. I understand, I know the areas that are polluted in your heart."

God Tests the Mind
Then He says, "I test the mind." I examine your mind, even to give every man according to his ways. This is so fascinating because we see that even when it talks about giving every man according to his ways, it talks about God appointing you in certain places. And so as a result of your ways, as a result not even just of your ways, as a result of what is going on in your heart, it signals what positions you can go for, how far you can go in life. And He says, "according to the fruit of his doings." So obviously according to the things that you produce by your actions.

So we hear that the heart is in desperate need of something, and if it is God that knows the heart, then the heart is in desperate need of Him. Now what's interesting about life is that the moment we are able to comprehend what this life is about, life has happened to us. And what I mean by that is the very same process—because how many of you know we all go through processes—the very same process that strengthened you, the very same process that molded you, the very same process that brought you to where you are right now, it first broke you.

Scars Leave Memories
And what we often get disconnected from is that when you are broken and then healed, it leaves a scar. And scars to me are quite ironic. You see, like I have a scar right here. Now this scar symbolizes that something was healed. But the memory of how this scar came about could bring pain. And so a lot of times it is the memories of our scars that cause pollution in the heart because there are memories that we have not surrendered to God.

And why it becomes crazy is because rarely do we realize that we are functioning through the memories of our scars. Because again, we don't even know our hearts—God does. So if we're not coming before the Lord in prayer, seeking for His insights about our insides, we're going to be walking blindly. And this often leads us to the moment that we start asking, "Why do I do this?" It is when the fruit that you have produced from your actions—because fruit is what people can see, right—so now you produce something from your actions that is dysfunctional, and other people start seeing it and start pointing things out to you. Then you start asking yourself why, like, "Why do I actually do that?" But the why has always been in God.

God's Cleansing Vision
He knows there are things that we have gone through that scarred us in ways that polluted our hearts. And when God gave me this message, what He kind of like—one of the images He showed me was His blood running through and impurities coming out. And we're going to go into it. So just stay with me. And before we actually go—thank You, Jesus—before we go into the main text, we're going to do a very short prayer again. Just close your eyes.

Prayer

Father God, we thank You. Holy Spirit, in the course of this message, reveal to us the places in our hearts that have been polluted. Reveal to us what memories of scars that we are holding on to that require us to surrender. Thank You, God. Amen.

Okay, let's go. The main text we're looking at is in 2 Samuel 11:1-5. Now this is a familiar passage, but we're going to look into some things here. Now it says, "It happened..." Oh, it's right there. You know what, I'm back in. "It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah, but David remained at Jerusalem."

Why David Stayed Behind
Now this is very interesting because David, as we know, is a man that likes war. I mean, from a shepherd boy he's fighting with lions and bears. David has always been engaged in battles. Why is it that at this time he stays in Jerusalem while his people are going out to fight? You see, when I start studying what happened prior to this—so the people of Ammon, first of all, when it talks about in the spring of the year, weather played a huge role in warfare, or the seasons rather. How many of you watch Game of Thrones? Like "winter is coming," you know, but winter came in those times—it affected how they did warfare because of camping and all that stuff. So weather played a huge role. So spring was a good time for battle.

So now when it talks about—so the Israelites are fighting against the people of Ammon, which is the Ammonites. Now what happened prior to this passage is the Ammonites kind of declared war against the Israelites due to some misunderstanding. So they're like, okay, they're going to fight them. They hire some Syrian army people to go against the Israelites. They're in battle. David is present at that battle. And when you have time, if you're taking notes, just write 2 Samuel chapter 10 so you can study this also. David is present in that battle. The Israelites defeat the Syrian army that the Ammonites hired to fight against them.

Comfort Leads to Vulnerability
When they defeated them, the Syrians said, "You know what? We cannot join you in this battle because clearly we're not going anywhere." So now it's only the Ammonites that are coming again to fight against the Israelites. So it's very clear that if they needed help in the beginning, they were aware that their army wasn't strong enough to defeat the Israelites. So for them to come again, there is already kind of an assurance of victory because the battle isn't finished. So they have to finish it out. So could it be that David stayed at home because he got comfortable in the win—that he was already in the know that, look, this is child's play, okay, so you guys can go, I'mma stay back? He got comfortable somewhere along the way.

Now the dangerous thing with being comfortable is that the moment you get in a place of comfort, your guards are down. You're no longer watchful about your ways. You see, when in a job, when you get comfortable, all of a sudden you start coming late, you know, you take like two-hour breaks because you know the boss, you're like, "Hey, you know what's up." But you're no longer watchful that even though you guys are cool, it's still work, and then you get surprised when you get fired. David got comfortable. We even see this even with our friendships. Sometimes when we get too comfortable with people, we become disrespectful. We start speaking about them in any way because, oh, that's just the homie or whatever—Rich Homie Quan, you know. When we get comfortable, the point is when we get comfortable, our guards are down. And David got comfortable, and his guards were down. And the enemy took note of that.

The Enemy Attacks Through Scars
And now the enemy is about to swoop in on him through a memory of David's own scars. And we're going to look at this. It's very interesting. And now it says, let's go to the next verse. And now it says, "Then it happened one evening..." You see, "then it happened," right. "Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house."

I find it so fascinating. First of all, because it tells us that the bed is David's bed, the house is the king's house. Why not "and went on the roof of his house," right? But you see, before, you know, the house that David is staying in—obviously when he took over the kingdom, when he took over Israel, he takes over the house of the king. But that house first belonged to Saul. And that's very important to know. And I'm going to tell you why in a little bit. So he's on the roof of the late king Saul's former kingdom or house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.

The Three Ways of Temptation
Now as we go into this, you see the enemy only has three ways that he uses to attack us. There are three ways he always uses to tempt us. It never changes—the same way he used with Eve, the same way he used with Jesus, the same way he's using with David—because it is the way of the world that would distract you from your purpose. And it's three things: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. And he uses these same three things against David. And the location is very important because he does it when David is on the rooftop of the former king's house. And I'm going to tell you why this is important in a little bit.

So it says he saw the woman, and she was very beautiful to behold. So the lust of the eyes—he saw her. You know, she looks good. All right. Now I'm sure David has seen a lot of beautiful people in his life. I mean, what is it about this one? But come on. And then it says, "So David sent and inquired about the woman." And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba?" Check this out. They're like, "Is this not... Hold up, David." And he says, "The daughter of Eliam." He's trying to get real personal, like, "David, you know whose daughter she is." And then he says, "The wife of Uriah the Hittite."

David Ignores Warnings
The person is responding to David in a manner that, David, this is a no-go area because Uriah was one of David's noble armymen. So when the guy is giving David all this information, he's like, "Yo, look, I know she fine though, but I don't think you want to go there." Right. So the guy is telling David, this she's not the one. You know how people be like, "I am not the one." You know, he's like, she is not the one to mess with. David ignores all of that because now the lust of the flesh—he desires her. He wants to have her. He ignores everything.

And then let's go to the next one. And it says, "Then David sent messengers and took her." The pride of life. He's king, he's in a position of authority. He could abuse his position to do things that he's not supposed to do. And so it says, "Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity."

Now when it talks about cleansed from impurity—in those times, if a woman is on her menstrual cycle—and I'm sure we all know, menstrual cycle, men, you have sisters, mothers, you know—if a woman is on her menstrual cycle, it was known as menstrual impurity, and so she cannot be intimately involved with a man until it's over, and there's a whole cleansing process. So they're telling us that, you know, she wasn't impure, even though what they were doing was very impure. You know, I don't know why that needed to be highlighted, but anyway, let's go on. And then it says, "And she returned to her house." And the woman conceived. Something was born out of this incident, and the woman conceived, and so she sent and told David and said, "I am with child."

The Significance of the Location
Now why I say that the location of this is very significant—because you see, there was a time in David's life, the same process that strengthened David, the same process that molded him, that made him the man that he is, that man that he was—was the same process that also broke him. And what I mean by that: David's first wife was the daughter of king Saul.

David had to abandon his wife because her father wanted to kill him. He leaves the wife because he's on the run. Later on, word goes out that the king had given David's wife to another man. You see, when the enemy tempts you, the enemy can only tempt you with what you desire. But desire is a very interesting thing. Because to desire something is to have a strong wish for something. For example, I cannot desire to have water right now if I have access to it right here. Why would I desire something that I have access to? And so David went through a period where he desired to have his wife, but he could not access her because of king Saul.

And now David is in a position where he's all grown up. He's now the king. He's standing on the roof of the man who denied him access to his wife, and you're telling him he cannot have access to another woman. This is where the enemy starts manipulating you with the memories of your scars. He didn't look for any other location to get David. He got him in the place of his pain.

Examples from Life
You see, a lot of times the things that we do in life are a result of, you know—for example, let's say you were in high school, you were not the one, you know, anyone—the person you liked always dated your best friend, you know, for example. And so you went through a period of time of just rejection, like, "Oh my gosh, I love him." And he's with your best friend, right. So you go through this period where it's like, man. And then all of a sudden you become hot stuff, right. Everybody wants you. But now you begin to dishonor yourself because you're trying to feed a dead thing.

So you find yourself in relationships after relationships that don't serve you in any way because you're functioning from a place of the memories of your scars. And so this is happening to David. And the crazy thing about this is that when pain becomes louder than purpose, you become disconnected from what you're even doing. It's almost like—you see with David, all of this happened, and even if you and I would advise you to read further from this passage, just read from here to the end, right. All this happens to David. Now the woman has a child. David is trying to set up a way, you know, that okay, this is going to be hidden type of thing. We need to hide the problem.

David's Cover-Up and Consequences
So he sends for her husband to come to the house, to, you know, like if I get him to sleep with her, then, you know, he is the father, not me. You know, where's Maury Povich in this scene, right. But David's plan fails. The man was so honorable. He's like, "Look, we're in a time of war, my focus is not my woman right now. It's about the war." So he didn't even sleep with his wife. So David is like, "Okay, you know, we got to cover this problem." So David plans this whole plot that would have the man killed. So the man is killed. David sends for the woman to his house, you know, but all this is happening—God is watching.

And now the man is killed. It was a very—you know, God was not cool with that at all because remember, David is the man that God promoted because of his heart posture. And so this is happening. God calls a man, His name the prophet Nathan. He sends him to David to, you know, give David some news.

Now what is interesting—I'm just, I'm not going to read this just for the sake of time, but I want you to study this when you can. What is interesting is that the prophet Nathan is using a parable to describe to David about what he had done. David was so disconnected from his actions that he was angered at the thought of such a person. And he's like, "Such a person should die." And prophet Nathan says, "You are the man I'm talking about." And David is like, "Hold up, wait a minute." But David is now like, "Oh my gosh," right. And now he catches himself.

David's Repentance
The whole time David was so disconnected that he was the one who did that because the pain of his life, when he encountered a situation that reminded him—without knowing it—was louder than the purpose of God, and he did not even realize that he was a man that could do such a thing. You see, sometimes even there are things I realize about myself that I'll be like, "That would never be me. No." And then God shows you that, ah, you know, you are functioning from a little place of dysfunction.

And so the prophet tells him this, but there's something I want to highlight in their conversation, and that is in 2 Samuel 12:13-14. We have that. Boom.

You see, and it says, "So David said to Nathan..." So David recognizes that, look, I have messed up, right. "So David says, 'I have sinned against the Lord.'" And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die."

Actions Affect God's Glory
Now what's going on here is that when God appoints a person, when God promotes you—because promotion even happens due to the state of your heart really—but there are some parts of this that maybe we're going to just continue maybe next week. We'll see how the Lord does it. But when God promotes you in a position, God is ultimately saying, through you I want My name to be glorified on the earth, right. Because God is not going to come down by Himself and glorify Himself. It happens through people.

And so God is saying that, David, your actions matter in the sense that your actions would influence how people perceive Me. Because David is known to be the man chosen and anointed by God to rule Israel. His actions will reflect—well, if you know, okay, God anointed him. All right. Now he's killing folks to have their wives and babies. You know, that just seems a little funny. So God is saying, David, what you have produced is a dishonor to My name. And He says to the enemies of the Lord, they—so the enemies of the Lord will now blaspheme. So the very people that should be getting on the Lord's side would have further cause to say, "Nah, I'm good."

You see, when God seeks to have the glory through our lives, everything about us has to be submitted to Him. Because how we live and how we move and how we function impacts how people see Him. And then it tells us that, you know, the child that will be born to him shall surely die. Now God is not into killing children, okay. But the child represented what? The result of a dead thing.

God Removes Dead Things for Healing
You see, sometimes in order for God to heal you, to truly heal you, He has to strip you away of the dead things in your life. He has to strip you to your core so that you can see yourself and He can truly heal you. You see, even when I use the example of relationships—some, you know, one thing God showed me was almost like, you know, and in a way it's like, you know, you feel bad for the person, but no, not really. But He was showing me how there were different people going through like heartbreaks, you know, kind of like you just, you know, maybe your boyfriend left or your girlfriend left or somebody left, you know, but there was a lot of heartbreaks going on.

But what He showed me is that the relationship in the beginning was feeding a dead thing. And if you think about how it broke, it didn't even make any sense how you guys separated. It didn't make sense—that if you really think about it, it must have been divine. And so there's a lot of things that we have attached to ourselves that God says, "Look, for Me to truly heal you, I have to remove these things from your life."

Some of the jobs that we have lost is not because God doesn't want you to be financially stable, but that job in itself is representing you functioning from the memories of your scars. And so if He's going to heal you, He has to take it away from you. It's not that you're not going to get something back. He is going to restore you, but first He has to heal you. Because even to David and even to Bathsheba, He restored them. The child that they had was named Solomon, who we know was the one chosen to be the next king. So God will restore you, but He first has to heal you.

Psalm 51: A Cry for Clean Heart
Because if we don't—if we just keep functioning, if we keep feeding dead things in our lives, we're not going to grow because dead things don't grow. And so if we stay attached to all this dead weight, we're not going anywhere. And God wants to heal. And it's so interesting because it's from this place—the moment that prophet Nathan had spoken to David—it's from this place that Psalm 51 was written. And there's one particular thing I want to highlight, and that's in Psalm 51:10. And this is David after this conversation—he says this: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

David had come to the understanding that there are things that have actually polluted my heart. He had come to the awareness that I might not be as okay as I think. You see, when God was even revealing—like we're in an atmosphere of surrender, and I believe that's also connected to this—because sometimes, you know, when the Bible says trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Sometimes we think that we have gotten over certain things that really we have not gotten over.

Yeah, we think that, no, you know, that's in the past, I'm good, I've grown from it. It's all good. Yes, you have. But it also created scars. And have you surrendered those memories to God? So David comes to a place where he's not relying on his own understanding. He's not relying on the fact that, yeah, I went through all these things, but I'm in a place that God has brought me and all this great stuff. He says, "God, create in me a clean heart. I don't even know my heart, but You do. And You showed it to me. So cleanse me, Lord."

And it's from this place that the vision of what appeared to be the blood of Jesus running through our hearts with impurities coming out. There are some of you that God has already revealed to you certain things that have still affected you. Certain things that have still influenced how you move and how you do things in life. And He's going to wash that away as we surrender it to Him. He's going to wash that away.

Renew a Steadfast Spirit
When David says, "Renew a steadfast spirit within me," he's like, "Strengthen my spirit. I'm not trying—when the Bible says we have not received the spirit of the world—I'm not trying to function, I'm not trying to be played, I'm not trying to be manipulated by the enemy to function in his ways. Strengthen the spirit that You gave me." Wow.

You see, family, I believe that why God is revealing these things is because contamination only thrives when it's undetected. When you can detect where it is, the healing process begins. So stand with me.

Three Groups God Revealed
When God gave me this word, first it hit me in a way that I didn't even realize, but literally I saw three types of people, and it was almost like I could hear what you were saying. So the first part—He shows me three types of people. The first—there was a group of people that what you said was, "I'm coming back to God." It was just that simple. It's like, "God, I'm coming back to You."

And what I understood about that is God had already made it aware to you that although, yes, you are with Him—you know, you come to church, all these great things and all that stuff—but you are more of an observer than a receiver. Yes, you come to the house of God, but the Word of God has not even transformed your life because you're coming more to observe, like, oh, you know, you're waiting for your person to sing or the person that shouldn't sing or the person that should sing together or what she said, what he said. You're more of an observer than a receiver. It hasn't hit you yet.

And He showed me that one of the issues that maybe hadn't hit your attention was there were times in your life that you felt as though, God, if that was You, why did this happen. And it's quite confusing because you're in here today because you are aware that the hand of God is on your life. But at the same time, you're scared to open up yourself to God because you don't want to be disappointed. But He made certain things aware to you, and He touched your heart even before you came here today. And your words were, "God, I'm coming back to You. I've been living a reckless life. I haven't really been doing the things because of the purpose of it, but just because I know Your hand is on me, but I'm scared." And He's been speaking to you. If that's you, come down. If that is you, come down. Amen.

Second and Third Groups
The second group of people—and just keep coming down. Don't be shy or anything like that. The second group of people—I saw you had been so caught up in the temptations of life that you were so disconnected from even being convicted by the Holy Spirit. Now there's a difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction shows you a way. Condemnation keeps you confined. Condemnation is of the enemy. He wants you confined in a space of guilt, shame, and all that stuff. Conviction is when the Holy Spirit says, "Well, you know, this is wrong, but there's a—let me show you the way out of it." Right.

But you've been so caught up. You weren't even aware that you've been functioning through memories of the things that scarred you. And as the message was going on, you became aware that, God, the Holy Spirit is there revealing to you certain things. If that's you, come down. Come down. It's time to surrender those things. Praise God. Praise God. Amen. Come on. Amen.

Now the third group of people—I literally saw addictions. There are things that you became addicted to, and knowingly or unknowingly, it was as a source to cover the memories that you're running away from. But God says a cover doesn't make it go away. It's still there. But He wants to cleanse that thing, and I saw addictions—and there's just some. And don't be ashamed of whatever your addiction is because that spirit of addiction is going to break off you. It's going to break off you. Amen. I see you. I see you. Amen. Amen. Amen.

You see, the crazy thing—some of you. Amen. Just keep coming. Don't be ashamed of whatever it is. Whatever it is, don't be ashamed. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. You see, some of you have been in this mindset that in order for me to get free from whatever addiction this is, you know, I need to like fall on the Holy Spirit like whoa, you know, but it's all—it's faith.

Freedom by Faith
Now there are certain things that literally the taste is going to dry out from you. You're going to try it again 'cause you're just stubborn, but you're not even going to have the taste for it. It's going to literally become nasty. But there are some of you—because God wants to strengthen you in your faith—it's not going to happen that way.

What He wants you to understand is that the same way we receive healing is the same way we can break off an addiction. Are we willing to believe? Amen. Because sometimes we make ourselves victims to a thing. But God wants you to understand that no, no, no—you're never a victim. You're in Me. How can you be a victim? It's simply to believe God. You led captivity captive, Jesus—how can I be captive to something that You already took captive?

For some of you, it's just, "I'm walking away from this thing because I can." God wants to reveal to some of you the strength that you carry in yourself—that addiction does not have a hold on you the way you think it does. It does not. Some of you still need to come down. Jesus. Some of you still need to come down. So. Amen. Amen. Thank You, God. Thank You, God. Amen. I see you. I see you. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus.

God does not condemn you. He's not saying like, "Boy, what you shooting up?" He's not saying that. He's saying that, no, you can be free from it. God is truth. The truth is not afraid of the problem. The truth does not run away from the problem. It runs to it. God does not turn away from you because of whatever you are doing. He says, "No, you're free. You just need to know you're free." Praise God.

Specific Words of Healing
There was a lady—and I don't know if you're here—there was something God showed me, and if even if your daughter, you're in the pews or you're watching—there's a lady that you were abandoned by your mom, and that has haunted you for a very long time. You were abandoned by your mom, and you can never understand why would my mother abandon me. And God's love is filling your heart in a way that I can't even describe. If you are here, come down. If you are here, come down. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Wow. Thank You, God.

You see, one thing that—Amen. Come down. Look at God. One thing that God would always want you to know is that He chooses your parents for you. Come down. Thank You, God. And why I say that—you see, it's different when you chose a mother that abandoned you—it's different. You're going to be like, you know what, I just missed it. Now I need to try again. But when God chooses your parents for you, He's saying that I know what would happen in the course of your life. But this is the way that I have ordained for what is in you to be birthed through you.

And so what the enemy wants to do is try to manipulate your mind because you start looking at other people like, "But God, she has a mom. Mothers should love their children. She carried me. I mean, why would she abandon me?" You fought with that for so long. And He revealed it because He wants to heal it. You know, even just everyone here—no matter what it is, no matter disagreements that go on with your families—understand that God chose your family for you. Sometimes your family is like the buffer to your life. They're the ones that will sharpen you for your purpose. If you can deal with them, you can deal with the world. Praise God. Praise God.

Is there someone here with a heart condition? Is that you? Praise God. Praise God. You see, even as we talk about the heart—anytime God reveals a thing, He's healing it. He's healing it. You see, we serve a God who is so good because He touches everything. He's not going to just talk about the heart from a spiritual perspective but also from a physical perspective. And He brought you here for you to know that He's healing that. Praise God. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, God. Thank You, God.

Closing Call and Prayer
Just come down. Look at God waiting on you. I could sing a song about that. Come on down. Come on down. Just come on down. Come on down. If there's something you know you need to surrender, come down. Praise God. I don't know what—Lord, who are You waiting on? Amen. Amen. Amen.

Is there someone here with your brother? It's almost like you've been praying for something to be restored—like for God to restore your relationship with your brother. Come down in Jesus' name. Amen. Who else is here? Your brothers. Amen. God is even—there's a lot of things that's going to be reconciled in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.

You see, when God is dealing—even as God is dealing with the heart—there are things that He has to point out because in the healing process, there's some reconciliation that's going to take place. Amen. Come down. Praise God. Somebody give Jesus some praise. Amen. Praise God. Thank You, Jesus.

Can we pray to God? Come on, somebody. Who is in the crowd that we are waiting on? Praise the Lord. We can pray. Hey, thank You, Jesus. Family, let's close our eyes. Thank You, God.

Take a moment and just speak to God. Take a moment and just worship Him from your heart:

God, I lay these things down before You. Lord, I thank You for my healing. Lord, I thank You for reconciliation. He wants to hear your words to agree with what has been said. Take a moment and speak to your Father. Thank You, Jesus. Who is like You, God? Thank You, God. Yes, God. Yes, God. Yes, God. Thank You, God.

Lord, we worship You. We adore You, God. We thank You because even in this moment of our hearts being cleansed, there are so many things—we are in a season, we're in a time. It's time for the next. But what signals the next is the posture of our hearts. And so there are things that You needed to bring to our attention. And Lord, we worship You. Where can we go, Father God? Where can we go if not to You?

Lord, give us a desire to always not just seek You for the external factors of life but to always check with what is going on in our insides—that we may always come to You and say, "Search my heart, O Lord. If there is anything in me that is not of You, reveal it, Father God, and cleanse me from it."

Lord, I thank You that as we lay down the memories of our scars on the altar, we are not picking it back up ever again. In the name of Jesus. Lord, I thank You for reconciliation. I thank You that You chose our families because from this place of understanding, we would love them despite what is being received—because there is something about them that is required for who we are. There is something about them that is required for the revealing of who we are.

I thank You, Lord God, for reconciliation. You have given us a ministry of reconciliation. So I thank You that it's going to happen in us, and then through us we will also bring other people together. God, You are so good. I thank You, Lord, that we would never feel like we lacked something because of a parent that we did not have in our lives—because we always had You. We always have You. You've been with us even before we became.

Have Your way in our lives, Lord Jesus. Have Your way in our lives. Thank You for healing us. Thank You for healing every broken thing. Thank You for releasing us from dead things—even though we cried over it. Thank You for releasing us, for we know that You have better in our future. Thank You that even when we didn't understand, even when it hurt us, but You understood, Lord God—because You would never take anything that truly belonged to us.

You would never— it was never Your intention to take Isaac because he belonged to Abraham. May we know that we would never lose what is ours. Hallelujah. May this truth go down to the depths of our hearts.

Thank You, God, for the healing that took place in this house—in our hearts, in our souls, in our bodies. May we focus on how things are getting better. Thank You for the addictions that are broken off in the name of Jesus. Lord God, thank You, Father God. Thank You for the courage that Your children came down—not ashamed, but they know that You are the way.

Thank You that even—'cause You know You got some stubborn kids—thank You, Lord, that even when they try to go back to it, they will not have the taste for it. Thank You, Lord, that You're building our faith to know that we can walk away from something. That You're building our faith to know that it does not have a hold on me like I thought—because I'm in Christ.

Have Your way, God. We commit ourselves to You. We love You, Father. We love You, Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.