Speaker 1: Hello, and thanks for joining us here on Pastor Rick's
Speaker 1: Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry of Pastor Rick Warren. Today,
Speaker 1: Rick continues teaching a series called Connecting with God the
Speaker 1: Lord's Prayer. In these lessons, Rick shows you what it
Speaker 1: means to truly be spiritually connected to God and to
Speaker 1: each other through the power of God's Love and God's Word.
Speaker 1: In just a little while, we're going to tell you
Speaker 1: how to get the Lord's Prayer Words of Hope and
Speaker 1: Happiness gift book. This life giving resource will help you
Speaker 1: strengthen the hope of the children you love by introducing
Speaker 1: them to the Lord's Prayer. Go to Pastorick dot com
Speaker 1: to find out more, or text the word Daily to
Speaker 1: eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. That's Pastorick
Speaker 1: dot com or the word Daily to eight hundred six
Speaker 1: hundred five thousand and four. Right now, here's has to
Speaker 1: Rick with part one of a message called the Prayer
Speaker 1: of Cleansing.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this morning, what's hindering your progress
Speaker 2: in life? Growing closer to the Lord, growing closer to
Speaker 2: your family, to other people. What's hindering your dream? What's
Speaker 2: holding you back? What's slowing your progress. A lot of
Speaker 2: times we want to blame external things. Oh it's the economy,
Speaker 2: it's my boss, it's my relationships. I don't have enough money,
Speaker 2: blah blah blah. But the truth is, what holds you
Speaker 2: back in life is almost never external. It's internal. The
Speaker 2: things that hold you back are are inside you. Something
Speaker 2: gets entangled up inside you. Now what it is may
Speaker 2: surprise you, But the Bible tells us that what holds
Speaker 2: you back more than anything else is unconscious guilt from
Speaker 2: unconfessed sin. You may not even realize that it's unconscious
Speaker 2: guilt from unconfessed sin. When you hold on to hurts
Speaker 2: inside you and habits and hang ups and regret and
Speaker 2: shame and guilt, it just does a number on you
Speaker 2: because you weren't made by God to go around carrying
Speaker 2: a load of guilt. You weren't wired for that. In fact,
Speaker 2: the Bible says this, and Hebrews up here on the screen,
Speaker 2: Hebrews twelve one and two. Let us throw off everything
Speaker 2: that hinders I mean, others hold us back, prevents our progress.
Speaker 2: Let us throw off, let's get rid of let's dump
Speaker 2: everything that hinders our progress, and the sin that so
Speaker 2: easily entangles us and let us run with perseverance the
Speaker 2: race marked out for us. Did you know that when
Speaker 2: God made you, he has a race plan for your life.
Speaker 2: It's already been marked out. God has a purpose, a
Speaker 2: plan for your life that is unique, and nobody else
Speaker 2: can fulfill that plan and purpose. And God says, I've
Speaker 2: got a race that only you can run, and it's
Speaker 2: already marked out. Now. The problem is, everybody else has
Speaker 2: a race for your life too, And maybe your mom
Speaker 2: wanted you to run her race, or your dad wanted
Speaker 2: you to run his race, or you've got a boss
Speaker 2: or a friend, or a neighbor or a spouse or somebody.
Speaker 2: God loves you, and everybody else has a plan for
Speaker 2: your life, and you guy says, no, no, no, no
Speaker 2: time out here. I didn't make you to fulfill somebody
Speaker 2: else's plan. I put you on this planet to run
Speaker 2: the race that was marked out for you. The sad
Speaker 2: thing is most people don't run it, don't know the race.
Speaker 2: They get sidelined, they get sidetracked, they get tripped up,
Speaker 2: they get entangled, they get tired, they don't make it
Speaker 2: to the finish line. Very few people in life run
Speaker 2: the race that God actually marked out for them, and
Speaker 2: they end up living Plan bcde kind of thing instead
Speaker 2: of the race that God marked out for you. Now,
Speaker 2: the fact is God says we need to throw off
Speaker 2: the things that hinder us, hindrances, and the sin that
Speaker 2: entangles us. That's that unconfessed sin that creates unresolved and
Speaker 2: unconscious guilt. Now, the fact is, none of us are fallowless.
Speaker 2: We all make mistakes, none of us are perfect. We
Speaker 2: all blow it, we all sin, we all flub up.
Speaker 2: We don't measure up to our own standards, much less
Speaker 2: God's standard of perfection. I actually have never met anybody
Speaker 2: who claim to be perfect. We all know we're sinners.
Speaker 2: We all fall short, we all don't do the right
Speaker 2: thing every time. That's a pretty easy thing for us
Speaker 2: to admit. But what happens is as a result of that,
Speaker 2: because we are fault We are faulty. We make mistakes,
Speaker 2: We have regrets, and we have remorse, and we have guilt,
Speaker 2: and sometimes we have shame, and that guilt keeps us stuck.
Speaker 2: It keeps us stuck in our past. We can't get
Speaker 2: on with it because we keep thinking about what we did.
Speaker 2: We get stuck in our pain, we get stuck in
Speaker 2: our problems and we just don't make any progress anymore. Now.
Speaker 2: A lot of times we know we're guilty, but we
Speaker 2: try to deal with it in ways that don't work.
Speaker 2: We deny it, we repress it, we suppress it, we
Speaker 2: excuse it, we rationalize it. And you know what rationalize means.
Speaker 2: It means to tell rational lies. That's to rationalize. When
Speaker 2: you rationalize anything, you know it's wrong. What you're doing.
Speaker 2: You're trying to convince with your mind what your heart
Speaker 2: says is wrong. And rationalization is a battle between your
Speaker 2: heart and your head, and you're trying to tell yourself
Speaker 2: it's okay. When everything in your body goes it's not okay.
Speaker 2: That was not right, that was wrong, and I feel
Speaker 2: bad about it. I feel guilty about it. Now. The
Speaker 2: truth is God doesn't want you walking around with a
Speaker 2: load of guilt. A lot of people think God wants
Speaker 2: us to feel guilty other time. Absolutely not. Guilt is
Speaker 2: not a Christian emotion. In fact, it is the most worthless, unhelpful,
Speaker 2: destructive emotion out there. God did not design your body
Speaker 2: to carry guilt, and he doesn't want you carrying guilt.
Speaker 2: It's self destructive. It destroys your confidence, It damages your
Speaker 2: relationships in ways you don't even realize, and it defeats
Speaker 2: your potential. When you feel guilty, you're always afraid that
Speaker 2: somebody's going to find out. If they really knew what
Speaker 2: I'm like, they would not like me, If they really
Speaker 2: knew my past, they wouldn't love me. God wouldn't love me.
Speaker 2: And well, of course God knows everything your past is
Speaker 2: still loves you. But they wouldn't love me, and you
Speaker 2: walk around in fear a lot of the time. Sir
Speaker 2: Arthur Connan Doyle, the guy who was the author of
Speaker 2: all the Sherlock Home novels, was quite a prankster and
Speaker 2: once he wrote an anonymous note to I think it
Speaker 2: was thirteen key well known people in England, and the
Speaker 2: note simply said, all is found out, flee at once
Speaker 2: and I vacate about forty eight hours. About half the
Speaker 2: people left the country because everybody carries a load. Now,
Speaker 2: the truth is, guilt messes up your relationships. If you
Speaker 2: don't understand, and just go watch some TV soap operas
Speaker 2: and how guilt messes up relationships. The truth is when
Speaker 2: you feel guilty, one of the ways it comes out
Speaker 2: you get judgmental. Anytime you find somebody who's harshly judgmental,
Speaker 2: you can know one thing, they feel guilty. Judgmental people
Speaker 2: feel judged themselves, and they don't feel forgiven, so they
Speaker 2: don't want anybody else feel forgiven. And the more guilty
Speaker 2: you feel, the more judgmental you're going to be. It's
Speaker 2: just a fact of life. When you are guilty, you
Speaker 2: overreact to the weaknesses and other people often the same
Speaker 2: weaknesses that you hate and yourself. When you feel guilty,
Speaker 2: you indulge people. You spoil them, you buy them things
Speaker 2: they don't need, because you feel guilty. When you feel guilty,
Speaker 2: you avoid commitment in a relationship. Guilt can make you
Speaker 2: physically sick. Psychiatrists and psychologists tell us that probably sixty
Speaker 2: to seventy percent of all the people in the hospitals
Speaker 2: today could actually leave the hospital if they knew how
Speaker 2: to get rid of guilt and resentment, guilt over what
Speaker 2: I've done to others and resentment over what people have
Speaker 2: done to me. The Bible says this on the screen
Speaker 2: Proverbs twenty eight. You will never succeed in life if
Speaker 2: you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give
Speaker 2: them up, and then God will show you mercy. Now,
Speaker 2: I can't tell you how excited I am about this message.
Speaker 2: Because of all the ones we've done in this series
Speaker 2: on the Lord's Prayer, this one, the Prayer of Cleansing,
Speaker 2: is the one that will personally revolutionize your life in
Speaker 2: ways that you can't even imagine. It is personally revolutionized
Speaker 2: my life. It set me free, this prayer, the Prayer
Speaker 2: of cleansing. Forgive us our sins, forgive us our debts,
Speaker 2: forgive us our transgressions. Depending on the translation you've got,
Speaker 2: When you understand the Prayer of Cleansing and you practice it,
Speaker 2: it opens the door to live a life of freedom,
Speaker 2: a life of a clear conscience, a life of no guilt,
Speaker 2: a life that is joyful, a life of blessing, and
Speaker 2: a life that God uses. I want you to experience
Speaker 2: that in your life.
Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's daily hope. We're so glad you're
Speaker 1: with us today. Rick will be back in a moment,
Speaker 1: but first, recently, Pastor Rick had our graphic designers create
Speaker 1: a beautiful, frameable version of the Lord's Prayer that you
Speaker 1: can download for free right now by visiting pastorick dot com.
Speaker 1: That's pastorick dot com.
Speaker 3: Perhaps the most important role you can play in the
Speaker 3: life of a child is teaching them to trust God
Speaker 3: through prayer. It's the key to living with hope. Jesus said,
Speaker 3: we should always pray and never give up. That's why
Speaker 3: it's important to strengthen the hope of children by introducing
Speaker 3: them to Jesus's model for prayer at an early age.
Speaker 3: And we're excited to tell you about a very special
Speaker 3: resource to help you do just that. It's called The
Speaker 3: Lord's Prayers of Hope and Happiness. This book brings the
Speaker 3: poetic scripture of the King James version of the Bible
Speaker 3: to life. Readers young and old will enjoy thoughtful insights
Speaker 3: from New York Times best selling author Pastor Rick Warren
Speaker 3: and stunning illustrations by award winning artist Richard Jesse Watson.
Speaker 3: It's sure to become a meaningful bedtime ritual, a treasure memory,
Speaker 3: and a lasting legacy that bears good fruit for generations
Speaker 3: to come. This wonderful book is a perfect way to
Speaker 3: share the beauty and richness of the Lord's Prayer with
Speaker 3: the children The Lord has placed in your life, and
Speaker 3: we'll send it to you to say thanks. When you
Speaker 3: give a gift to Daily Hope, your gift will be
Speaker 3: used to help take the good news of Jesus Christ
Speaker 3: to people everywhere. Just call eight hundred six hundred five
Speaker 3: zero zero four or go to Fastorrick dot com. That's
Speaker 3: eight hundred six hundred five zero zero four, or go
Speaker 3: to Pastrick dot com. Thanks so very much. Were only
Speaker 3: two days left to get your copy of the Lord's
Speaker 3: Prayer Children's Giftbook, So don't wait.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope once again. Here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 2: I will never forget the time that I prayed the
Speaker 2: prayer of Cleansing for the very first time. I was
Speaker 2: just a teenager, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old, and
Speaker 2: I remember that in my life at that point, my
Speaker 2: walk with God had just gotten dull. There was no joy,
Speaker 2: there was no thrill to it. There was. It was
Speaker 2: just kind of ho hum. I didn't when I'd pray.
Speaker 2: I felt like my prayers just bounced across the ceiling.
Speaker 2: I didn't feel close to God, I didn't feel close
Speaker 2: to anybody. Actually, my life was in a rut. I
Speaker 2: was stuck. I was not making any progress. I wasn't
Speaker 2: moving backwards, but I was just stuck in a rut.
Speaker 2: So I remember one night I was still living at home,
Speaker 2: about ten o'clock at night. Everybody had gone to bed,
Speaker 2: had gotten quiet, and I went into my room and
Speaker 2: I shut the door, and I sat down at my desk,
Speaker 2: and I had a small light on at the desk,
Speaker 2: and now the room was dark, and I got out
Speaker 2: a yellow pad and I said, okay, God, well let's
Speaker 2: just do some business here. I need to do a
Speaker 2: little spring cleaning. I need to know anything that's between
Speaker 2: you and me that's holding back the joy, holding back
Speaker 2: the blessing, holding back what I know you're capable and
Speaker 2: want to give in my life. And so God, whatever
Speaker 2: you tell me, I'm going to write it down. I'm
Speaker 2: just going to make a sin list, and I'm going
Speaker 2: to list all the things that are wrong in my life,
Speaker 2: and as you reveal them to me, I'll write them down.
Speaker 2: So God, whatever you want to say to me, say
Speaker 2: to me now, because I want to do a little
Speaker 2: spring cleaning. And I sat there and within a few seconds,
Speaker 2: I just started thinking of things that I knew were
Speaker 2: wrong my life, and I began to write them down
Speaker 2: on this yellow pad. If it said you've been jealous
Speaker 2: about that person, I wrote down jealousy with that person.
Speaker 2: If it said if God or you were impatient with
Speaker 2: that person, I wrote impatient with that person. You lied
Speaker 2: to that person, I'd write that down. You exaggerated about that,
Speaker 2: I write that down. You had lust about this person,
Speaker 2: I wrote that down. Whatever God showed me, I wrote
Speaker 2: it down. You stole something, you said something wrong, you
Speaker 2: were unkind. And I just began to write down the
Speaker 2: things that came to my mind that I knew were wrong.
Speaker 2: Where I've been lazy, I was lazy. Where I was prideful,
Speaker 2: I was prideful. I filled up a page, I filled
Speaker 2: up a second page, filled up a third page. I thought,
Speaker 2: I'm going to write my first book, Driven Sinner, a
Speaker 2: list of Rick Warrens sins. And I had about four
Speaker 2: pages at the end. And when I finished it, it
Speaker 2: was about midnight. And I looked at that and I thought, Man,
Speaker 2: that is ugly. There's no wonder God isn't blessing my
Speaker 2: life that I feel far from I don't feel close
Speaker 2: to God. But I knew enough of the Bible that
Speaker 2: I knew first John chapter one, verse nine, from memory,
Speaker 2: if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us,
Speaker 2: to cleanse us of all of our sins, and to
Speaker 2: forgive us from all of our unrighteousness. And so I
Speaker 2: knew God said, if you confess, it all forgiven. And
Speaker 2: so I wrote first John one nine over each of
Speaker 2: those pages, knowing that God was forgiving me simply because
Speaker 2: I had admitted them and confessed them to him. And
Speaker 2: I was sorry about it. And so I went back
Speaker 2: and I I crossed out each one. I was just
Speaker 2: going to burn the paper. I certainly didn't anybody reading it.
Speaker 2: I was going to burn the paper. But I left
Speaker 2: on there, uncrossed out the sins between me and another
Speaker 2: person that I knew I needed to make restitution for.
Speaker 2: And there were three on that page. Now, I want
Speaker 2: you to know that since then, your pastor has done
Speaker 2: much worse sins than these things. But this is what
Speaker 2: God revealed to me at that point in my life,
Speaker 2: seventeen eighteen years of age. The first thing you revealed
Speaker 2: to me is that when my sister was young growing up,
Speaker 2: I used to steal her money all the time. I
Speaker 2: knew where she kept it. I'd go into her room,
Speaker 2: find her money, take it, Go buy an album, Go
Speaker 2: buy comics, Go buy some candy. She probably wanted where
Speaker 2: all her money went. But I even figured out how
Speaker 2: you could take two forks and stick into her piggy
Speaker 2: bake and shake it upside down and the money would
Speaker 2: fall out. And I had a great collection of comic
Speaker 2: books from all of that. And God said, you know what,
Speaker 2: You've never confessed that to you, and you need to
Speaker 2: get that right and you need to repay her. The
Speaker 2: second thing on that list is I had been in
Speaker 2: an unreported accident as a high school student. I had
Speaker 2: been with a couple friends of mine and we had
Speaker 2: been in a parking lot one day at a store
Speaker 2: and as we were backing out, I backed into a
Speaker 2: car behind me and smashed in the front of it.
Speaker 2: We got scared and left. I didn't leave a note.
Speaker 2: I didn't tell anybody. God said, you know that's wrong.
Speaker 2: You need to go to the police department and you
Speaker 2: need to admit that you were the one who bashed
Speaker 2: that in. See if it's on the records, and so
Speaker 2: you can repay whoever that was for the damage that
Speaker 2: was done to their car. The third thing was I
Speaker 2: was a member of a small church and the past
Speaker 2: at that time. I had really long hair, beautiful flowing
Speaker 2: blonde hair northern California in the sixties and seventies. What
Speaker 2: do you expect? Okay? And my dad never had a
Speaker 2: problem with He said, son, grow it while you got it,
Speaker 2: cause you ain't gonna have it for long. So he
Speaker 2: never had a problem with. But my pastor, this small
Speaker 2: church was kind of conservative, didn't like guys wearing long
Speaker 2: hair in those days, and he regularly talked about it
Speaker 2: and put me on the defense. And I didn't like him,
Speaker 2: and so I told everybody I didn't like him. I
Speaker 2: gossiped about him, and I just did not do anything
Speaker 2: to build him up. I undermined him. And God said,
Speaker 2: I don't care what he's done, what his part is.
Speaker 2: You need to go and confess you've had a bad attitude.
Speaker 2: You need to ask forgiveness. So I finished that and
Speaker 2: I got in bed and God said, you're gonna do it.
Speaker 2: I said, nope, not a chance, nope. And God said, oh, really,
Speaker 2: have you thought about the consequences of this, y Yep,
Speaker 2: you're gonna do it? Nope? And I began a battle
Speaker 2: in my mind with God that night, God, I really
Speaker 2: don't want to do this. In fact, i'll do anything
Speaker 2: if you just forgive these three things. It would be humbling,
Speaker 2: it would be embarrassing. I would feel bad about it.
Speaker 2: I don't even want to do it. It's gonna cost me.
Speaker 2: God said, Rick, this is a test. This is a
Speaker 2: test of your integrity. Will you do what I tell
Speaker 2: you to do. Let me tell you what integrity is.
Speaker 2: Integrity isn't being perfect. Integrity is not never sinning if
Speaker 2: nobody's got integrity because nobody's perfect. Integrity means being open
Speaker 2: and honest and willing to confess where you are weak,
Speaker 2: where you sin, and when you do wrong and get right.
Speaker 2: That's integrity. It's not being perfect. Nobody's perfect. It means
Speaker 2: being honest and authentic about your imperfections. I tried to
Speaker 2: do everything with God. I tried to bargain with God. God,
Speaker 2: if you will forgive me, I will never do it again.
Speaker 2: God said, don't make promises. Just go get it right. God,
Speaker 2: if you will forgive me, I will never sin again. Right,
Speaker 2: Just go get it right, God, if you will forgive me,
Speaker 2: I tried to bargain with God, I will read my
Speaker 2: Bible every day the rest of my life. I will
Speaker 2: tell somebody about Jesus every day. God said, don't make promises,
Speaker 2: go get it right, and I said, I don't want to.
Speaker 2: He said, Rick, if you won't be real with me,
Speaker 2: I won't be real with you. I want to bless
Speaker 2: your life. I want to use your life.
Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's daily Hope. We're so glad you're
Speaker 1: with us today. Recently, Pastor Rick had our graphic designers
Speaker 1: create a beautiful, frameable version of the Lord's Prayer that
Speaker 1: you can download for free right now by visiting Pastor Rick.
Speaker 1: That's Pastorick dot com. Rick will be back in a moment,
Speaker 1: but first, Perhaps the most important role you can play
Speaker 1: in the life of a child is teaching them to
Speaker 1: trust God through prayer. It's the key to living with hope.
Speaker 1: Jesus said, we should always pray and never give up.
Speaker 1: That's why it's so important to strengthen the hope of
Speaker 1: children by introducing them to Jesus's model for prayer at
Speaker 1: an early age. With this in mind, we're excited to
Speaker 1: tell you about a very special resource to help you
Speaker 1: do just that. It's called the Lord's Prayer. Words of
Speaker 1: Hope and Happiness. This book brings the poetic scripture of
Speaker 1: the King James version of the Bible to life. Readers
Speaker 1: young and old will enjoy thoughtful insights from New York
Speaker 1: Times bestselling author Pastor Rick Warren and stunning illustrations by
Speaker 1: award winning artist Richard Jesse Watson. It's sure to become
Speaker 1: a meaningful bedtime ritual, a treasure memory, and a lasting
Speaker 1: legacy that bears good fruit for generations to come. The
Speaker 1: Lord's Prayer Words of Hope and Happiness is the perfect
Speaker 1: way to share the beauty and richness of the Lord's
Speaker 1: Prayer with the children. The Lord has placed in your
Speaker 1: life and will send it to you when you give
Speaker 1: a gift to Daily Hope to help take the good
Speaker 1: news to people everywhere. Call eight hundred six hundred five
Speaker 1: thousand and four to support Daily Hope and we'll send
Speaker 1: you this powerful resource. Or you can visit Pastororrick dot com.
Speaker 1: That's eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four or
Speaker 1: Pastorerick dot com. They are only two days left to
Speaker 1: get your copy of the Lord's Prayer Children's Gift Book,
Speaker 1: so don't wait. Here's Pastor Rick with a letter from
Speaker 1: one of our listeners.
Speaker 2: You know, I've often said that I'm addicted to change lives.
Speaker 2: It's what keeps me going. One good story from you
Speaker 2: can keep me going for another month to hear how
Speaker 2: God's working in your life. It just keeps me motivated.
Speaker 2: So you bless me with your stories. Here's one that
Speaker 2: came from a woman named Tania, who's a brand new believer.
Speaker 2: She wrote, Pastor Rick, I'm a new person in Christ
Speaker 2: and I'm learning more and more every day. My supervisor
Speaker 2: here at work came in about a week ago and
Speaker 2: told me about your Daily Hope devotional and your broadcast.
Speaker 2: I am now hooked. Listening to Daily Hope each morning
Speaker 2: has become a blessing to my soul. It's really helped
Speaker 2: me to implement the Word of God in my daily life. Well, Tania,
Speaker 2: this is why we do what we do. This is
Speaker 2: why we do Daily Hope for people like you, people
Speaker 2: who want to grow, who desire to grow, and who
Speaker 2: take the time to grow by getting into God's Word
Speaker 2: on a daily basis. Now, I want you to notice
Speaker 2: something about Tania's story. She didn't find the Daily Hope
Speaker 2: broadcast or podcast on her own. It was her coworker
Speaker 2: who told about Daily Hope. Who have you told? You
Speaker 2: may have been listening to Daily Hope for weeks, or
Speaker 2: months or even longer. Would you be an agent of
Speaker 2: love and an agent of hope and tell four or
Speaker 2: five people this week? Look for somebody today, Send an email,
Speaker 2: write a text, call somebody in a phone and say
Speaker 2: this has helped me in my spiritual life and I
Speaker 2: want to pass it on to you that Daily Hope
Speaker 2: can help you grow in your faith and in your
Speaker 2: walk in Christ. Thanks for listening today. Be sure to
Speaker 2: join me next time as we continue to look into
Speaker 2: God's word for our Daily Hope and tell somebody about it.
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast
Speaker 1: has blessed your life, please write in at Rick at
Speaker 1: Pastorrick dot com. That's Rick at pastor rick dot com.
Speaker 1: This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and
Speaker 1: your generous financial support