We have all, you know, we have all situations where we are seeking God’s divine intervention, that we need a shift. And more importantly, we want this shift to be in our favor.

This shift that we are seeking is a blessing. We want the shift to be the reconciliation of a broken relationship, the restoration of a marriage, the return of a prodigal child, the restoration of our health, our finances, et cetera. The list goes on.

But the bottom line is the shift we seek is positive in nature and not negative. Nobody is seeking a shift from good health to poor health, or from riches to rags. All of us want our shift to be trending upward.

So in order for you and I to get the positive shift we seek, there is a price to pay.

The price is not a monetary cost per se, but it refers to the spiritual discipline, sacrifices, and commitment that we have to put in to get the breakthrough we desire.

The question is, how bad do you and I want the shift? What price are you and I willing to pay to get the shift that we desire of the Lord? Are we willing to count the cost and to go after that shift that we desire?

Even in this scripture, Jesus was saying to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”

So Jesus is telling us there is a cost we have to pay, and the cost is self-denial.

We have to deny our rights, our privileges, our goals, and it must be in alignment with the will of God for our lives, because we want nothing that the Lord does not want for us.

So are you willing to seek after Him, to pay that price, to deny yourself the pleasures of this world, and seek the things of the kingdom of God?

Another price that we have to pay is separation.

Song of Solomon 2:10 says, “My beloved spoke, and said to me, ‘Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.’”

The Lord Jesus Christ wants to be alone with us, but He wants us to come away from the crowd, because the things that we need, the shifts that we require from Him, He is going to tell us, but He cannot tell us in the crowd.

He wants us to spend time alone with Him, time that is just dedicated to Him, where we are focused on Him.

In the Song of Solomon they were talking about their love for one another, but we are talking about the love of God, the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

John got the revelation of what heaven will be like when he was exiled on the isle of Patmos, when he was separated from all of his loved ones, many of whom had already died.

But it was there that the Lord revealed so many things, and when we go to the book of Revelation, we know that our future is a bright future.

Even Moses, when he was alone and saw the burning bush and turned aside, that is when the Lord called him.

Even Jesus, many times, withdrew from the crowd so He could be alone with His Father.

Psalm 23:2 says, “He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.”

Does your soul need restoring? Separate yourself with the One who has the power to restore you.

The Word of God says in Jeremiah 31:3, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” That’s what God wants.

So if you want that shift, whatever the shift is, it’s going to cause you to separate yourself from the crowd, to go alone, to be alone with the Lover of your soul.

And also, it’s going to require consistency and persistence in prayer. Luke 18:1 speaks about asking, seeking, and knocking, not looking for the answer we want, but the one that the Lord will give us.

The Word of God says the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed that it would not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and it rained.

If you desire that shift, that shift that you and I seeking, is going to require you and I to be persistent–not the convenient prayer, because we know when we start to pray, the enemy battles us. We become sleepy. You and I can watch TV, but once you start going down on your knee, and start praying, you become drowsy, but because you desire this shift, whatever you’re asking God, there is a price.

There will be times in our lives when praying seems dry or dull, when you are struggling when you pray, but keep praying. Keep talking to the Lord.

Or invite someone. Ask a brother or a sister to come alongside you, because we are called to bear one another’s burdens. Invite someone alongside to pray with you. Stay at the altar.

Maybe you’re good at getting up early in the morning. Maybe you’re a night person. Maybe you’re not a morning person, but maybe you’re up at night. Whatever it is, that becomes your time.

Whatever it is, you have to be consistent, and you have to be persistent in prayer.

Another price that we have to pay, especially as we are in our twenty-one days of prayer and fasting, is obedience.

Obedience is key to unlocking every shift that you and I desire in our lives. The Word of God says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

This brings us to the focus of our twenty-one days of prayer and fasting, which is forgiveness. This is day three, and our focus is forgiveness.

The Word says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”

We have to forgive. According to Matthew 6:14–15, until we forgive those who have offended us, there will be no divine shift into the positive.

We must obey this command that the Lord is asking of us: to forgive those who have wronged us, offended us, betrayed us, walked out on us, or abandoned us. Whatever the offense, the Lord is asking us to forgive.

It is conditional. You and I must forgive, or else we would be praying amiss.

The Bible says that if we harbor sin in our hearts, God will not hear us. He says that if we do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will our Father forgive us.

Just like how every day we ask the Lord to forgive us, there is no cap on forgiveness. The Word of God says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I am not minimizing the hurt. For some of you, the pain is real. For some of you, the pain is fresh. But the Lord is asking you, if you want that shift in your life, if you want to draw closer to God, if you want to see the breakthrough you are desiring, if you want to see the move of God, if you want to clearly hear the voice of God concerning the shift you are seeking, you must forgive. You must forgive.

Romans 5 tells us that God demonstrated His love toward us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And Jesus Himself said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

You will come through when you shift from a spirit of unforgiveness to a spirit of forgiveness. You have to be willing to pay that price.

Because of my sin, because of your sin, all of this was done for us. And obviously, we cannot do it on our own.

As children of God, we are indwelt with the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit enables us to forgive those who have offended us, those who have wronged us.

So we have to pay the price. We have to sacrifice. What are we willing to sacrifice? What are we willing to give up to receive this shift?

We have to be diligent. We have to immerse ourselves in the Word of God.

I just want to encourage you this morning. As you seek this shift, understand that the shift you seek comes with a price.

But how desperate are you for this shift? What are you willing to pay? And when I say “we,” I am speaking to myself as well.

What are you willing to sacrifice to get the shift that you require?

So let us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, endeavor to pay the price, to sacrifice, to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, because we know that whatever price we pay is nothing compared to what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ paid at Calvary.

And there is a reward. There is a reward for your sacrifice. Your intimacy with the Lord will increase. Your trust in Him will deepen. Your faith in Him will grow. Your discernment will become sharper.

So let us, with the help of the Lord, be willing to pay the price for the shift that we seek. Amen. Amen.