 Okay, welcome everybody to class once again, thank you for joining in for another time of learning and looking into God's words, especially with regard to marriage and family, a reminder for the learning students to also complete your assessment. And to ensure that you do it before the end of the course because it goes into your final scores before you get a certificate as well as our students here online. Those of you who joined in late, please ensure that you complete your assessments on time and so that you can be marked for your final grade. So through last week we began another portion of looking into marriage and family last week we looked into the challenges that come as in marriage in marriage in a relationship, and we looked at biblical instructions on dealing with some of those challenges. Today we are it's a follow follow through or a follow up of what we are what we picked up last week, and it is to specifically deals with, you know, in the challenges after post the challenges that people face in marriages in relationships, where they could have been a conflict or where they have, where they have been struggles. What we do notice and we see is that it leaves us with a deep sense of hurt, strong wounds, and a lot of pain, because of the challenges or the situations that have that have taken place. And this lesson that we are going to be doing is is is a word of encouragement and also I'd say not just encouragement but also certain instructions from God's word on how one can move forward after being wounded or after being hurt in a way that they continue to live in hope and to be able to release the pain or the hurt. But they have experienced as a result of the challenges that that may have come by in the relationship. Okay, so today's the first lecture is about how we could keep moving forward into the future by releasing the past moving pressing forward by releasing the past. For you could follow along and I am on page 137 on Chapter 12, which is pressing forward by releasing the past. Okay. So, as I did, did again mention, we're going to be looking at this for those who've been wounded those who've been afflicted through the challenges some of the challenges that we spoke about last time, and how they could move forward and not continue. Sorry, excuse me, and not stay in the, the old or stay in the pain or the resentment or the bitterness, but press on forward by the power of God and by the grace that God gives to move, despite the challenges we have gone through. Okay, so, you know, in our own experiences, and in our own families, we may recognize that the pain or the wounds that are caused by people who are close to us. You know, it could be through words, it could be through actions, it could be through behaviors through criticism can deeply affect us and our emotions. It can leave us feeling very torn, very broken, and also with a sense of fear on how we can move forward, especially if there isn't a resolution that comes as a result of the challenge one faces. It can, it can cause a lot of wounds and scars, deep scars. But what, you know, the hope of God's word is, and we know that for us as believers, we cannot allow that pain to stick on, or to be so prevalent in us, that it takes away the hope and the promise of what the future holds for us. Okay, so despite whatever the wounds may be, and although yes, we are looking at it largely in the part of marriage, but you know that I want to, you know, extend this to other family relationships as well. The hurts and wounds that may be caused by parents, hurts and wounds that's caused by children, or those caused by siblings, or yeah, you know, any, any form of relationships where you've trusted them as a, as a brother or as a, as a person who you've been vulnerable to. And scripture says that, you know, in Psalms 42 verse 9, it says, even my best friend, the one I trusted, the one who shared my food has turned against me. David is talking about this, you know, and is really pouring out his heart to God of what he's experiencing inside when someone hurts. So the, so the pain is real. The pain is intense. And a lot of times maybe you may be advised to let it go to forgive. Yes, these are all things that we know we should be doing. But it can seem a lot more difficult than, than it being as simple as someone saying that. But we know that for the sake of our own spirit for the health of our bodies and for our relationship, our fellowship with God, we must come to a place of releasing that hurt, releasing the past and coming to a place of receiving healing and building ourselves in the Lord so that we can move forward. You know, certain examples that I can specifically think about, you know, with stories I've heard with personal experiences. The pain that is caused by a spouse, especially when there is dishonesty, or when there is unfaithfulness, when there is, when there are probably lies that come up. Or even what actions that may seem like neglect or actions that may seem as if one doesn't care. Okay, a sense of insecurity that comes up does create deep wounds in people's hearts. Situations where, and I see this very common in, you know, especially in the kind of culture that I'm in, where a lot of issues come up as because of money and property. And, you know, there are people cheating each other. I'm talking about family members cheating each other of property or money or wealth. And as a result, feeling very let down and upset of the way that they've been, they've been handled and treated. So these things can, and some of these cars continue to remain for years, for years. And there's a lot of regret and a lot of anger and pain that people get into. And we see, you know, just, just research in itself shows that when we harbor negative emotions, it not only causes destructions in relationships, but it causes severe destruction in our emotions that tends to manifest itself in physical illnesses, physical symptoms. You know, a lot of the physical symptoms that you see or physical illnesses that you see with regard to hypertension, headaches, vascular diseases, neurological diseases have its root somewhere in emotional pain that people have been carrying over years. I found something, and this is outside of the book, but I found this extremely interesting in a research that I read about autoimmune disorders. Autoimmune disorders are those that are where, you know, the healthy cells of our body, sorry, the cells that fight infection of our body, they call the fighter cells, actually attack our own cells, our own healthy cells. That's what autoimmune disorder is. The body does not recognize the other cells as its own, but it recognizes it as alien or it as foreign. And so it begins to attack. And, you know, so there was a research that was done that, you know, people who kind of have a tendency to self-loat, you know, self-hate or put themselves down, you know, have poor self-esteem, poor sense of image, you know, those kind of people tend to have a lot more of autoimmune disorders. So we do see that what we carry in our emotional selves begin to not just affect us, of course, spiritually in our relationship with God in the way that our prayers are hindered, in the way that we have fellowship with God and receive the fullness of God. Now, that is the biggest thing of it all. But in addition, what we face here, even in our lives is a sense of emotional breakdowns and also physical issues. So whatever the cause or whatever the struggle may be, whatever the challenge may be, we must ensure that we release this. We don't hold on to the past, hold on to hurts, to pain because at the end of it, it's, you know, there is this, I hope I quote this right, but, you know, unforgiveness is like taking poison and hoping that it kills the other. That's what it is, that, you know, you harbor unforgiveness inside thinking that, you know, you are hitting back at maybe your offender, but in other words, you've actually hit back on yourself, you've killed yourself. So releasing the past is something that is needed. And this isn't easy. And for all of us who've gone through pains, gone through struggles, know that it isn't a very easy thing to let go of pain. But the biggest assurance that we have in God's Word is, as it's written in Psalm 233, He restores my soul. God is the one who restores our soul. He's the one who refreshes even the emotional part of us. You know, God's just not, not just interested only in our spirits, but He is so interested in the emotions you and I harbor. If you look at further scripture, and maybe I'll ask one or two of you to read the scripture, I'm on page 137. And if someone could read two scripture verses, one is Psalm 30, 11 and 12. And the other is Isaiah 61, 1 to 3. Would someone kindly read that please? Just unmute and read that. Yes, go ahead. Yes. Psalm 30, 11, 12. You have turned for me my morning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. To the end that my glory may sing praise to you and not be silent. Oh Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever. Thank you, Christopher. The next verse, Isaiah 61, 1 to 3. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the acceptability of the Lord and the day of vengeance of a God to comfort all who mourn, to counsel those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Thank you. Thank you Prabhakar. Right, so through these verses you see that God is the one who brings about a restoration of even our emotions. He's the one, and you see that through Isaiah it says, you know, he's the one who consoles those who mourn, gives them beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. So he's the one who replaces all that is negative that we may not be able to churn out out of ourselves, but he's the one who brings this place, this place where we have joy, we have gladness, we are taken out of the captivity of our emotions and our thoughts. And, you know, often we ask how does that happen? And I think, you know, some of these, some of the ways of how it happens is supernatural. I mean, all of us have gone through emotional pain at some point of the time. And the more that we fix our eyes on God knowing that He restores our soul, you know, you'll begin to see that maybe one day you just wake up and you're trying to dig up to see what happened to the pain that you were feeling. And you'll suddenly see that, you know, it's not there. It's not there. It cannot be felt. It's not tangibly felt like you would. And I believe that's supernatural. Of course, there are things we need to do intentionally to go back to the word to release it. We can't be holding on to the pain and hoping that, you know, God can use even the pain to restore us. There needs to be a release and that's the part that we do to be able to release to let go so that God can do of it or God can make of it something wonderful. Now, as we are being restored, it is a journey. It is a process. And the important thing in as we face challenges is something that the thread that runs through the gospel, which is forgiveness. Okay. In many things, we know that often we do not have the power to control what may come upon us. The challenges or the struggles or any kind of offenses that come upon us. We may not have control over it. But what we do have control over is not to be in a place of hate to not keep walking in a place of hate. Okay. So when we do harbor any form of those emotions, anger, resentment, hate, you know, a sense of pain towards the person, it can be extremely difficult for us to keep going that way. It's like being chained. It's like being bound. And we are as believers, we know that we can't be walking in that that darkness. When you look at 1 John 2 9 to 11, it says he who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause of stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother. Now this hates is even if someone else has offended you. Okay. He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he's going. Because the darkness has blinded his eyes. So as a believer, when we profess and say that the light of God is in us, we cannot be walking in darkness, walking in hate towards anyone. Because hate, like it says will blind us hate that any kind of darkness that that there may be around us may will cause us to fall will cause us to stumble. And we may not be clear of what we are saying or what we are doing. So it is a conscious effort and a choice that we make to forgive. Scripture says in Luke 17 3 and 4, it says, So watch what you do if your brother sins, rebuke him and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in one day and each time he comes to you saying, I repent, you must forgive him. Okay. So there isn't another way out for all of us who are in Christ, but the way of forgiveness. And the, the only way that we can get away from our negative thoughts or emotions or resentment or bitterness is to release the forgiveness for the, for what the person has done. We see, you know, our biggest model for forgiveness is what Jesus modeled, even when he was being crucified. We all know what he said on the cross father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. And he was even in the midst of all the suffering and the pain and the undeserved punishment that he was going through. He released that forgiveness. So, so much more when there was nothing that Jesus deserved to, to face what he faced. And we being sinful as we are often, you know, when we are offended, there are times that we are also part and parcel of it. You know, we tend to feel justified that we cannot or we should not release that forgiveness. So our only example is the example of Christ where we release forgiveness. Now, when we look at forgiveness, there are certain principles that we, we notice about forgiveness. First of all, that forgiveness is a commitment we make. It is something, it is a choice that you make to let go of what you are holding against somebody. So this can be any of those emotions you may be feeling when you've been offended. So it's a commitment you make unto the Lord that you will, you refuse to hold on, but you're making the choice to let go of the offense. So when you are releasing forgiveness to your spouse or to anyone. Okay, so we'll take this generally, but of course, in the sense of marriage, of course, so much more that we will, we will need to look at this. So when you are releasing forgiveness, you're not waiting for a point of time when you are completely settled in your mind before you can release that forgiveness. You're not waiting for a time to heal before you can release that forgiveness. You have given the, you have extended the forgiveness even before you have felt a sense of peace or a sense of healing. So when you forgive, when you do not harbor that anger, you're actually resolving it by releasing it over to God. So that's, that's part of the resolution when you release, you're also receiving in turn, you are receiving the release, the healing that comes from God. Forgiveness is also unconditional. It's something that you give away without really expecting something back in turn. So you may be forgiving someone, one who probably doesn't deserve to be forgiven, or who's not even, who doesn't even think that they are at the wrong. All right, and you've released forgiveness to someone when they, when they perfectly think that they are, they are in the right, right. So forgiveness is unconditional where you are releasing forgiveness even when you don't expect anything in return or even when they don't expect, they didn't think that they were offended, right. Or they've been offensive, sorry, they didn't even think that they've been offensive. You continue to release that forgiveness because it is out of a command that we forgive because God has asked us to forgive. Forgive again is not something that comes out of your emotion. If you're going to feel like forgiving, maybe you will never forgive. It is, it is a willful choice. It is a decision that you make. You don't, you may not feel like it, but you do it out of your obedience for what God has said of his followers. So it is a choice and it is an act of the will. So when, when we are, when, when a spouse or when a person who grants forgiveness, what we are showing out is that we are being, you know, a testimony of the love of Christ. And that's what we are expressing. It's not about being good or nice or sacrificial, but it is, it is exhibiting your, you're a witness of what God's love has done for you. So when you grant, when you give the forgiveness, you are, you are in turn saying that the situation is, you know, is no more, is dead. And you, you are no more taking the right to hold on to it or to dwell, to dwell on it, but you are releasing it. You're also making the commitment of not regurgitating that offence again and again, you know, bringing it up again and again. We say that, you know, a lot of times we may say that we're forgiven, but we tend to bring up those issues, tend to, you know, dig it all back again. Forgiveness really means that you have released it. Released it means it's buried, it's dead, it's over, no more to resurrect again. You're not going to dwell on it. So the power of forgiveness is another, you know, when you do extend forgiveness, it begins to release in you the healing of God. God, God supernaturally brings about and gives that healing for you. As we move on, forgiveness is one thing, forgetting is another. You know, you would have heard a lot of people saying, you know, I can forgive, but I can't forget. Okay. Now, even as I say that, I think I want to clarify that you may be, you may recall it, right? Recall is it? Maybe something reminds you of that offence and you may recall it, but you are choosing to not dwell in it, to not, to not keep reliving that experience. So when we look at Philippines 313 to 15, would somebody please read that? This is on page 139, please. Yes, ma'am. Yeah, go ahead. Philippians 313 to 15 says, of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it. The one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above. All of us who are spiritually mature should have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you. Amen. Thank you, Abbi. So this verse in verse 13, it says, to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So here we see, and it's also talking, if you look at verse 15, it says, you know, this shows spiritual maturity. When we have the same attitude, this shows spiritual maturity. So it's not just forgiving but also forgetting. And we see it in scripture. In Psalms it says, as far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed your transgressions from you. In Isaiah it says, you know, he has taken away our sins into the depths of the sea. He's forever cleansed us. You know, he's as if we have not sinned. That's what justification is, as if we have not sinned. So he cleanses us, wiping away all the offenses and our sins, he does not recollect no more. You know, so if we are to, you know, if we had to have God recollect our sins, you know, it would be more than we could even count. But God has chosen to forgive us as well as forgetting what we have done. And so just as God does for us, you know, we extend that same where we choose to forget, yes, we may recall. But what we are choosing not to do is to remember the pain that it has caused us. So to be active in forgetting, to be active to not bring this up. So, you know, some practical ways of doing that is probably there are, you know, there may be times when people bring up past offenses. And usually we see this in families, right? Especially when there are, when there are certain families that are enmeshed together and there's another family member that's a part. You tend to discuss past issues. One way of not engaging in that is to, you know, be outright and open and say, you know, that's forgiven, that's forgotten. I've released the person. I don't want to harbor that anymore. I don't want to talk about that anymore. I'd rather see, you know, the good of what has happened post that. So it is a conscious choice that we do even to forget. Now, even as we forget, the next thing is to be able to let go, to let go. Okay, Hebrews 12 verse 15, it says, God against turning back from the grace of God, let no one become like a bitter plant that grows up and causes many troubles with its poison. Okay. The fact is when we hold on to an experience, it has the ability, the potential to create a bitter root. And bitterness in us causes a lot of strife, causes poison. It causes many troubles with its poison. So bitterness is like poison that will create further trouble to us. So when, even as we forgive, we forget, we are choosing to let go. When we release it to God, it's actually shaking it off from us. You know, we're taking it off. It's like, you know, let's say an insect comes and says, you take it, pull it and throw it. You chuck it out. Now, because that becomes, if we continue to hold on, it becomes a burden that will significantly weigh us down. You know, in Hebrews 12, one, just after Hebrews 11 talks about the faith journey of a lot of stalwarts in Scripture. And then it says in 12 verse one, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly. Okay. So whatever may come in the way of our faith journey, we need to let go of it, to need to release it and not hold on to it. Instead, what do we do? Verse two, fix our eyes on Jesus, who is the perfecter and finisher of our faith. Fix our eyes on Jesus rather than hold, if it's in our eyes on maybe an offense or a hurt or a pain, rather than that is to fix our eyes on Jesus. Okay. As we do all of this, we've got to get into a place of seeing our offender as the way the Lord Jesus sees them. So we need to see, whether it's a spouse or it's a child to be able to see them as the way Christ sees them. So when we have forgiven them, we have probably repented, they have repented before God, we see them as God sees them. And how does God see them as absolutely brand new? Okay. And we need to acknowledge that the same hope the God puts in their hearts is the same things that we want to assume as well. To be able to release that hope, release that desire that things will change, that things will work for good. So we're going to be seeing them with the same lens as Christ sees them. Through this, we also need to engage in our own healing and recovering by speaking the positive despite the kind of negatives that may be there. And the positive way of speaking is not those wishful thinking that we may say, but it is the promises of God that we declare into those negative situations. Because what we are doing is we are acknowledging that in Christ, there are many blessings that we have received. And although we may be naturally or in reality in a place of hurt or pain, we know that in Christ, there is freedom. In Christ, we are made holy. In Christ, we are healed. In Christ, we are delivered. In Christ, we are made whole. We are overcomers. We are triumphant. So many things, right? So we begin to declare the promise of those blessings in our lives, even though at those points, we may be feeling really low or really torn down or broken. Because when we declare the Word of God, Word of God is like the balm of Gilead, right? That soothes our souls and brings about healing for our lives and begins to bring about the purposes and the future that God has designed for us. So one way of our healing comes is by declaring the promises of God, despite what we may be seeing in our current. The situations or the discouragement that we may be feeling. And as we do that, we pin our hopes on this truth that God makes all things new. Reading from Psalms 30 verses 5 and 11, it says, For his anger is but for a moment, his favor is for life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. You have turned for me my morning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. We see that God makes everything new and some of the examples that we in scripture is the reference that's given there is on Job. Where Job, despite all the pain that he went through, the loss he went through, his family, his possessions, his health, all of that. After all of that, God restores back three times, but twice as much. He restores twice as much as he had done before. So even though there was a season of pain, God brings him through into something that is much more glorious than the earlier one. We also see so many, there are many examples in scripture that shows that one is Joseph, where through those years of imprisonment, of being hated by his brothers, of being betrayed, of being alleged dead, all of that, yet God restores him from being a slave into being a minister. God brings out and that's the speciality that God does. Whenever there are seasons of difficulty, knowing that God will continue to restore. We see even in the life of David for years, even though there was an anointing over his life of being a king, we see many years that he was running away from an enemy. So much so that God again places him back into a place of glory and hope. So with these examples that we see, we know that God is the one who turns around things for us, who turns our ashes into joy, who turns our mourning into gladness, who turns things, who restores and changes things for us so that we can shine and we can be filled with the confidence that God has for us. So even as these situations pass, we come to a place of belief and trust and faith that God is the one who is going to do this for us. If we take the time to be obedient to his word by extending that forgiveness, by choosing not to experience that pain all over again, by choosing to let go and by being proactive and declaring the promises of God through those negative situations. Okay. All right. I'd just like to open, we have around seven to eight minutes. Maybe I'd like to open the class up for maybe certain questions or any thoughts. Yes, Sam, you can please unmute and speak. Thank you, Pastor. So I think broadly two things, Pastor, that I'm still trying to make sense of. So one is, one is, I think both of this has to do with some kind of emotional stability or so which is beyond reason, meaning I may, like I would say, okay, I forgive this person and it's a choice that I'm making to forgive this person and I will not hold this person a prisoner and I will not go back and I will not let that hurt come. So I'm making that choice. However, every time the incident comes up or the person comes across, maybe not spouse, I mean throughout this sermon, I don't know for some reason, I was not thinking of my spouse but of other people. But you know, every time the person's name comes up or there's something that remotely connects to that previous incident, those feelings come up. So even though I have made conscious choices, when those negative feelings come up, even though I've known like how does one deal with that? So that is I think the first question, which is despite your choice and despite you making proclamations and also saying like I will not let it hurt but even then against your will, against your choice, negative emotions do come up like you may feel angry or you may just get reminded of how badly you were betrayed. So do you just let it come and pass or like how do you do it? So that's one and the other is also I think I'm thinking more in terms of if you being on the other side where you've hurt someone and you've genuinely asked for apology and everything but this person has not forgiven you and despite all your sincere efforts. I mean, I don't think there's anything more you can do from your end. The person just doesn't want to talk to you, doesn't want to see you. Like if you're crossing paths, he would just, he or she would just walk the other way. So how do you deal with that? Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Emil. So I'll address your first question. What do you actually do when the pain actually is real? You may be making a choice of forgiving but experiencing the pain. Now, this is something that will not magically go away. But one thing if you remember when we were talking, when we were learning the chapter on resolving conflicts, we spoke about one of the first things that we need to do when we are resolving a conflict is to be able to prepare your own heart. So that's the point of time when you're coming with an examination of your own emotions and what you are going through with the Lord. Now, the Lord knows that you are broken. You are angry or, you know, you're as mad as ready to kill. The Lord knows and there isn't any need to run away from that emotion. What you do on a regular basis is to hand that over and say, Lord, I cannot on my own deal with this emotion that I'm feeling right now. But I am willfully giving it to you. Your word says that I need to forgive. I need to release it, but I am truly feeling this sense of anger and bitterness. And this is not something I want to do on my own. I am releasing this to you. You take this over. You show me how I can begin to feel a heart of forgiveness or a heart of love. It is God who pours out his love on you, not you who pour out God's love on yourself. So I think these are lovely places because you have no control of your own emotions. And when you don't have control is when you're at your best place because that's where you come humbly before God and say, Lord, this is your doing. This is something only you can do. And because I'm thinking if it was so easy, we could have all forgiven, right? If it was that easy for us to just begin to feel a sense of love and forgiveness to someone who's really offended us. It would have been really easy. It's out of your doing, but it is not our doing. It is the doing of the Lord in our hearts. So every time you experience it, and I think that's a journey, every time you experience it, it's coming willfully and handing over and saying, Lord, I'm giving this to you because I am unable to manage these emotions on my own, right? And the Lord knows, the Lord knows and will help you to, will help you to, will help to change it. Like I said, that it's supernatural. The way that we forgive or the way that we begin to feel love for an enemy does not come from within us. We are asked to do it, but it can only be done by that love that is poured out from God and asked the Lord for it. So it may not be explainable, Sam, but it's tangible. It's something that's tangible as we continue to just lay that down before the Lord. The second question you had asked about is what happens if the other person does not take your forgiveness and does not reconcile? So forgiveness is something that we are called to do, but reconciliation requires two people. So if the other person is not willing to reconcile with you, not willing to take your forgiveness, there is nothing you can do about it. You have done what God's asked you to do to release the forgiveness, to extend forgiveness, to go and to iron it out, sort it out. But if you don't see a reciprocation from that end, you are free to let it be. But guard your heart that that doesn't become another reason for you to harbour anger. I've done this much. I went all out of my way to forgive and to reconcile, but they have done this. And so now I can be stiff-necked and I don't have to, I feel more righteous and justified. But that's what we've got to be careful of. On one hand, yes, we release it. If they don't, we release it. But being careful that that doesn't become, again, another fertile place to harbour maybe irritation or anger towards them. I hope I answered that. I just want to take some time right now to just pray because, you know, I'm sure in all of our lives, there is that either one, two, three, five, ten, I don't know, ten people who we can, even as I'm talking, I have images in my mind coming up even as I'm talking to you, you know, that we need to come before God to do that. And, you know, because all of us are here collectively and we know that the Spirit of God is present when we are all coming together in oneness. Let's pray. Let's ask God to help us in this restoration process. Wherever we may be, some of us may be far behind, some of us may be well ahead. Wherever it is, the Lord can put us at speed. Okay, so just join with me as I pray and wherever you're sitting, you know, if you have a pen or a paper, I'd like you to maybe write the name of the person on the paper in front of you. Place your hand and we're going to ask the Lord to help us forgive, help us forget, help us let go to see them the way Christ has and to be able to release the blessing of the Lord. So take this time. Two seconds, five seconds, quickly write the names of I'm doing it too. Okay, quickly write the names of these people. And, yeah, write the names of these people and let's all collectively together pray. Okay. So shall we pray together? Okay, so I'd just like you to place your hand on those names. And let's pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you because you know the depths of our hearts. We thank you because you know the pain and the scars that we have faced as a result of being offended in some way or the other by this person. Lord, we thank you that each of them are your creation, your children born in your image. You died on the cross for them. You forgave them. Father, and so who are we to harbor anger over them? They are your children. Lord, they have been set free. And Father, we want to do likewise. Master, forgive us for harboring all those negative emotions over these people all these years. Lord, we release them to you, Father, and we pray, Lord, that you will give us the strength, Lord, and the spirit to forgive them, to release them of the hurt that they have caused us. By the power of your spirit, we pray and we ask, Lord, that we will completely get them off the hook of our resentment and bitterness. Lord, we release them. We forgive them in Jesus' name. And Father, not just forgiveness. We pray for your power and your strength to help us forget the experiences of those pain. Lord, even as we may, a lot of us may be interacting with them still. All those memories, those feelings that come up. Father, we release to you. We hand it over to you. Not because we can do it, but because we need your strength and your power to help us. Mighty God, we pray that we will begin to see them as the way you see them with that same unconditional love that you have. Lord, that we will begin to see them as your children, as your blessed and chosen ones. And Father, in the face of our relationship, may we declare blessing not just over their lives, but over this relationship. We declare, Father, Lord, that your love will bind this relationship. Your forgiveness and your mercy, your grace will bind these relationships. Thank you, Father, for helping us, for doing this in us. I pray, God, that you will release healing in our hearts, in our brokenness, Father, that we will hand it all over to you. And we will experience the freedom only you can give through the power of your love. Thank you for doing this to us. We are forever indebted that you have given us the freedom to live, to love, and to experience these relationships freely. Thank you, Master. In Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen. All right. We will break for 10 minutes. It's 10.55 on my clock. And we will be back in 10 minutes. That's 11.05 for our next class.