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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer,

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Speaker 1: where we help you find the words you need to

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Speaker 1: connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what's happening

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Speaker 1: in your life today, you can trust that God wants

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Speaker 1: to hear from you. Right after the short word from

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Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray through today's prayer to leave last

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Speaker 1: year's bitterness behind. A Prayer to Leave last Year's bitterness behind,

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Speaker 1: written by Lynette Kittle, read by Leah Gerard. Get rid

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Speaker 1: of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along

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Speaker 1: with every form of malice Ephesians four thirty one. Bitterness

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Speaker 1: is a deeply rooted issue, difficult to eradicate completely from

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Speaker 1: our lives, especially when injustice, hurt, suffering in other forms

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Speaker 1: of pain are involved. If it remains and is never uprooted,

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Speaker 1: it can grip us so tightly that it will squeeze

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Speaker 1: the life out of us, preventing us from experiencing the

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Speaker 1: goodness of God and the joy available to us. It's

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Speaker 1: definitely a life killer, destroying us from within if we

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Speaker 1: don't rid ourselves of it, which of course we can't

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Speaker 1: do on our own because we need God's strength to

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Speaker 1: overcome it. Because we aren't strong enough on our own.

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Speaker 1: Philippians four thirteen reminds us I can do all this

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Speaker 1: through Him who gives me strength. The Apostle Paul explains

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Speaker 1: that when bitterness invades our lives, it places us in

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Speaker 1: the clutches of sin. He writes in Acts eight twenty three,

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Speaker 1: for I see that you are full of bitterness and

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Speaker 1: captive to sin. Even with all our culture's trendy self

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Speaker 1: help programs, improvement courses, and counseling opportunities, it's impossible to

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Speaker 1: rid ourselves of bitterness without forgiveness. This means we need

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Speaker 1: to forgive those we hold bitterness towards. It involves forgiving others. Often,

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Speaker 1: those who aren't sorry think they have nothing to be

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Speaker 1: sorry for and believe they don't have anything to be

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Speaker 1: forgiven for. Proverbs fourteen ten describes how personal bitterness is

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Speaker 1: in each person, with no one else truly knowing what

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Speaker 1: we're holding in our hearts. It says each heart knows

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Speaker 1: its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.

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Speaker 1: Like Mary Poppins's song that goes just a spoonful of

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Speaker 1: sugar helps the medicine go down, we need God's sweet

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Speaker 1: forgiveness to wash away the bitterness from our hearts. Even

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Speaker 1: though our fallen human nature clings to bitterness. Because of Jesus'

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Speaker 1: death and resurrection, we've been given the ability to let

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Speaker 1: bitterness go and resist the sin of holding on to it,

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Speaker 1: as Romans six fourteen reassures us, for sin shall no

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Speaker 1: longer be your master, because you are not under the law,

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Speaker 1: but under grace. The new year is a time for

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Speaker 1: us to let go of all bitterness and resist the

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Speaker 1: need to carry it over another year. Hebrews twelve fifteen

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Speaker 1: warns see to it that no one falls short of

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Speaker 1: the grace of God, and that no bitter root grows

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Speaker 1: up to cause trouble and defile many. Because God calls

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Speaker 1: us to let go of all bitterness, we need to obey,

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Speaker 1: just as Paul urges us in Ephesians four thirty one,

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Speaker 1: it's time for us to agree with God, as though

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Speaker 1: we're singing the song from the movie Frozen, let it Go. Sadly,

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Speaker 1: many of us struggle with letting go of bitterness toward others.

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Speaker 1: We resist the tug of forgiveness in our hearts while

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Speaker 1: also not knowing how or where to begin. Believing there's

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Speaker 1: too much bitterness built up inside to be freed from it. However,

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Speaker 1: we still need to face the issue of bitterness head

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Speaker 1: on as Christians. Because God forgives us. We really have

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Speaker 1: no excuse or justification for holding bitterness against anyone. Jesus

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Speaker 1: urges in Mark eleven twenty five, and when you stand praying,

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Speaker 1: if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them so that

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Speaker 1: your Father in Heaven may forgive you your sins. And

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Speaker 1: Jesus didn't just preach it, he lived it by forgiving

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Speaker 1: the people who crucified him. Luke twenty three, p. Thirty

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Speaker 1: four tells us that it Jesus prayed on the cross,

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Speaker 1: he said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know

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Speaker 1: what they are doing, and they divided up his clothes

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Speaker 1: by casting lots. Let's pray, Dear Father, free us today

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Speaker 1: from bitterness that has taken up residence in our souls.

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Speaker 1: Forgive us for letting it into our hearts and allowing

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Speaker 1: it to take root and grow within us. Soften our hearts,

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Speaker 1: to forgive those who have hurt us, so that bitterness

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Speaker 1: toward them will be wiped away. As we ask for

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Speaker 1: your help in forgiving others, we ask that you also

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Speaker 1: soften the hearts of those who have hurt us, drawing

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Speaker 1: them to you to seek repentance and receive your forgiveness.

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Speaker 1: After all, their sin is against you, and yours to

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Speaker 1: forgive strengthen us to let all bitterness go, and to

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Speaker 1: purify ourselves from it, as Paul professes in Second Corinth

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Speaker 1: in seven to one. Therefore, since we have these promises,

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Speaker 1: dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that countaminates

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Speaker 1: body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God

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Speaker 1: in Jesus name. Amen. Your Daily Prayer is a production

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Speaker 1: of Life Audio and Salem Media. If you haven't already,

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Speaker 1: be sure to follow the show in your favorite podcast

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Speaker 1: filled inspirational podcasts, visit us at lifeaudio dot com