Don't Curse Others - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) September 2, 2022
Have you ever been treated so badly by someone or a group of people that you've wanted to curse them? I don't mean insulting them with foul language or mean words, which would be wrong according to the word of God. No, I mean placing a curse upon them. There are some who come from a heritage where laying a curse on a disliked person is normal. Also, in this age when occult practices have been normalized, millions actually think that they should place curses on other people. I've also come to understand that many people don't understand that some of the words they speak can be considered a curse, which can impact the lives of those they pronounce them against.
If you've ever thought about speaking a curse on someone else, Don't do it! In fact, the Bible warns Believers not to curse others. Consider the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 6:27-28 - “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Paul also instructed in Romans 12:14 - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. We are supposed to pray blessings over those who treat us badly.
As you can see, those who believe in Christ and obey Him have been charged not to curse others but to pray blessings over them. Yes, that's contrary to our modern understanding but it's God's way. Sadly, the average person would call you a wimp or worse, if they knew you applied this instruction in your life.
Yet, God's children are called to obey Him no matter what unbelievers think. That means resorting to cursing others is not an acceptable way of dealing with the feelings that erupt when someone does us wrong. To do so is to follow in the path of the wicked and they shall be silenced in the darkness (1 Samuel 2:9).
The Bible also tells us in Proverbs 26:2 - Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. Just as God will protect you from undeserved curses, so also will He protect others. This is because He loves all His creations, even those who have gone astray. Indeed, Jesus said in Matthew 5:45 - ...He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. God, in His wisdom, extends grace even to those you don't think are deserving. It is only God who can decide who is deserving at any point in time. So be careful not to think you know who should specifically fall under judgment. Remember that He has determined in His word that He will show mercy and grant compassion to whoever He chooses.
God is the judge, please do not try to take His place for satan attempted this and was kicked out of heaven for his pride and rebellion (Isaiah 14). If you have been offended by anyone, forgive them. If you are so embittered, then take the matter to the Ultimate Judge and call on Him for justice. He has promised to answer prayers and that's what He will do (1 Peter 3:12). Don't take matters into your own hands for doing that can indeed produce a curse and not on the person you thought would receive it.
Finally, do you remember the story of Balaam (Numbers 22-24)? He'd been hired by an angry king to curse the Israelites. Instead God used him to bless them. Please don't curse anyone, no matter how angry you are or how justified you feel. As we've looked at blessings and curses over the last two weeks, today's message is one to keep in mind. Never forget that God has the final say so just take your grievance to Him and ask for justice. He has promised to give justice to those who deserve it. Let Him decide and remain blessed.
More on Blessings and Curses:
Deuteronomy 28 Blessings & Requirements - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) September 24, 2021
The Blessing & The Curse - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) August 23, 2022
The Mephibosheth Blessing - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) August 26, 2022
The Saul Curse - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) August 30, 2022
Don't Curse Others - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) September 2, 2022
CLOSING PRAYER
Thank You, God for the blessing of fellowship and the grace that comes from it. Thank You for the privilege of being able to worship and intercede for we know that such prayers rise to You as a sweet smelling incense.
Lord, we glorify Your name, thanking You for each of us who was able to participate in P&P today in whatever way they did. Thank You for being the God who meets each one where they are but never leaves them the way He met them. Hallelujah!
Father, we call on You to bless today's participants as well as those who will engage with this thread at a later point in time, Cover them in Your grace…
LAST 10 MINUTES
Did you read today's message? I hope you did and I hope it resonated with you.
As our study of blessings and curses comes to a close, we need to think about what we've learned over the past few weeks. In summary, we've learned that indeed, there are blessings and there are curses. We can avail ourselves to either. However, none of us wants curses and the way to avoid those is to obey the Lord.
We've also come to understand that blessings can result from fulfilling promises (The Mephibosheth Blessing) and curses can stem from breaking covenant as was the case with the Saul Curse. In such cases, the choices we make can have long-lasting consequences.
prayer for people:
Lord thank You for creating us. Please help those Your children who are far from you in this moment.
Matthew 9:36 -- "When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."
Help them Lord, they belong to You -- please bring them closer to you and further away from the wolf, their adversary.
IJMN I pray amen
prayer for leaders:
Father in Jesus name I submit to You all the leaders of the world. I thank You for the great progress that has been recently, but I'm here to request that we begin to see even stronger improvement in the leadership systems.
Daniel 3:29 -- "Let God so stir the hearts of leaders so that they dedicate their nation to Him"
I ask this because we need better leaders in position to help solve all the unjust circumstances all around us. We ask this so the leaders will serve You and not mammon, and will be more willing to share our abundant resources with the needy.
God this request is not too hard for You, Mighty One…
praise point for this afternoon!
Sometime this morning, I noticed that I ran out of something I needed. But God miraculously provided it to me only 2 hours later -- I wasn't even looking for it, but it came my way!
Thank You Jehovah Jireh :))