Pray Against This… (Beware of People With An Evil Eye)

there was a man who absolutely despised his neighbor for the most part his neighbor was a nice person his neighbor was someone who caused no drama he made friendly small talk when the opportunity arose and he even offered his help to others in the community now the reason that this man despised his neighbor had nothing to do with the man's character or what this man had done [Music] the reason he despised his neighbor was because of jealousy and envy the neighbor always looks like he had it all together the grass always looked Greener next door the neighbor's lawn was always in perfect condition he always drove bigger and nicer cars and he had a much more lucrative job all of this produced fertile ground for jealousy to develop and this is what I call the evil eye an eye filled with jealousy an eye that envies others and the most dangerous thing about having an evil eye is that jealousy and envy prevent us from seeing the work of God in our lives the Book of James talks about jealousy it says in James 3 verse 16 for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist there will be disorder and every vile practice when we're jealous we actually cause disorder this in turn causes disorder for us and the people around us in the next chapter of James we learn a little more about jealousy James 4 verse 2 to 3 says you desire and do not have so you murder you covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel you do not have because you do not ask you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passion now what James is trying to show us is that when we covet and have Envy our hearts are off when you're often wanting the wrong things we ask for things to fulfill our own passions and desires instead of fulfilling the kingdom of God many people will take the words of Jesus out of context for example he says ask anything in my name and you will receive it Jesus is not telling us if we simply add in the name of Jesus to the end of a prayer then we will receive what we ask for the Lord is not an ATM machine that spits out what we want if we just hit the right buttons he's telling us when we pray in the name of Jesus and when our hearts and desires match with his heart and desires we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer James is getting at the same point here when we ask God for things to fulfill our evil desires built from jealousy and envy we're asking wrongly and will not receive what we pray for reflect on some of your recent prayers are you praying that God will accomplish certain things in your life in order to fulfill your evil desires or are you asking in order for God to move his kingdom forward that will show you if you have an evil eye of jealousy and envy foreign Envy even worse is that it leads to other negative emotions jealousy and envy are the fertile ground with which bitterness and pride can grow if you're jealous of somebody else's possession you may start to become bitter that they have it and not you even worse you may be bitter at God for not giving you what you desire jealousy can also lead to you living beyond your means you see your neighbor driving around with a new car and you think you should also have a new car however you do not make enough money to afford that car but then because of envy and jealousy and even after you crunch the numbers you get the car anyway envy and jealousy can drive people to become financially irresponsible and some end up having to live off credit cards One credit card turns into five credit cards it becomes a giant game of keeping up with the Joneses your evil eye puts you in a position that is not good for you instead of our eyes being filled with evil such as jealousy and envy our eyes should be filled with the light and love of God our hearts should be so fixated on the kingdom of God so much so that the things that cause us envy and jealousy do not bother us as in the words of Jesus we should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you we should not build our life on receiving things or reaching a certain status everything we own will one day end up in a trash dump or in somebody's attic the only thing that truly matters is where you stand with King Jesus the kingdom of God will last forever let's be Kingdom people that turn our eyes to God instead of worldly statuses and possessions worldly desires often push people to become envious and jealous don't let an evil eye get in the way of what the Lord is trying to do in your life take time to pray and examine your own heart to see if your evil eye is getting in the way of what the Lord is trying to do and the Bible calls for each of us to examine ourselves laminations 3 verse 40 says let us test and examine our ways and return to the Lord this tells me that every believer needs to test and examine themselves to determine their true spiritual standing are you all in for Jesus Christ or is there compromise in your life is there some acceptance of sin First Corinthians 11 verse 28 says let a person examine himself then and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup examine what you tolerate in your life what do you give room to is there any Pride any Envy or jealousy in your life have you truly examined yourself and assessed where you stand with Jesus I believe it's important for each of us to test and see if the attitudes of our heart soul and mind are in perfect alignment with those of Jesus Christ guard your heart Saints it's crucial all too often we're concerned about things that don't benefit our heart or our soul when instead we should be committed to say Jesus you can have my heart and for Jesus Christ to truly have your heart you have to know that you're the gatekeeper to your heart you can Usher in The Godly and you can Usher in the ungodly you can allow things that will renew your mind and transform your mind to the Lord's standard or you can allow things that pollute your mind to enter your heart when it comes to what you listen to you and I need to learn to listen with filters learn to be Discerning when it comes to your ears because the effects of what you listen to run deep into your heart once again proverbs 4 verse 23. it says keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life [Music]