FORGIVE
“But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” (Mark 11:25, NLT)
We have seen that Jesus teaches us to “have faith in God” and to pray, “believing that we have already received.” Then He promises, whatever you ask for “it will be yours.”
Immediately after this great “prayer promise”, Jesus adds one statement that is powerful and true, and yet so difficult to live out. Jesus tells us that there is one ultimate hindrance to our prayers being heard and our blessing received from God, and that is forgiveness. Unforgiveness is a barrier between us and the Almighty.
Why would that be the case? It is because Faith and Love are essential to communion with the Father. Love to God and love to neighbor are inseparable. We cannot truly commune with God with all of our heart if we do not love our neighbor. Jesus says elsewhere, “forgive as you are forgiven.” Scripture says, “Forgive one another, even as God, in Christ, forgave you.”
A rich and full forgiveness is to be the rule and pattern of our relationship with others. God has so richly forgiven us. We are called to lavish forgiveness on others. This is a startling statement from our Lord. The measure of forgiveness we offer to others, is the measure of forgiveness we will receive from God. In other words, when God's forgiving love has so taken up residence in our hearts that we are able to forgive others as he forgave us, then we experience a true and rich communion with the Father, and out of that rich unity with the Father, He hears and answers the prayer of faith.
Andrew Murray has said that “every prayer rests on our faith in God's pardoning grace.” This implies that to hold on to the sin of another person, is to move us out of the grace of God. This means that when we suffer a great injustice we must look first to find a Godlike disposition. How would God see this situation? What would God do in this situation?
The injustices we suffer can cause a deep sense of wounding within us. Our reputation can suffer harm. Our finances might be diminished. We can desire to “pay back” the offender. And when injustice strikes we need to remember that we serve a God whose reputation has suffered badly because human beings used their God-given will to sin. God has been pouring out resources in unimaginable measure to redeem us, to bring us back to Him. And yet God did not pay us back as our sins deserved. Rather, God sought to restore us and bring us back to Him.
And that is the same spirit that the Lord requires of us. If our lives have truly been changed by the grace of God then that grace will translate into our relationship with our neighbors and our friends and our family.
God's forgiveness was not easy. Sometimes we make the mistake of trivializing the grace and mercy and forgiveness of God. We somehow think that His forgiveness toward us was easy. Yet in reality it was not. There is a saying, “forgiveness is more costly than creation.” And it is true in all aspects of life. It is less costly to start a relationship than it is to mend a relationship. Redemption cost God something. He spent invaluable resources (including the commitment and sacrifice of Jesus) in order to pay for our redemption.
Forgiveness will not be easy for us either. We will struggle with it. Forgiveness will cost us something. When we forgive, we give up our rights to take 'our pound of flesh' and we choose instead to offer mercy and grace and understanding. We choose to place the situation in the hands of the great Judge. We choose to leave vengeance in the hands of an Almighty and All-Knowing God. We remove our finger from the trigger and we offer the same forgiveness that God offered to us.
And out of forgiveness, we experience the kind of communion with God that leads to the answer we are seeking in other aspects of our lives.
What is God saying to me today?
My Prayer List:
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Personal Prayer:
Father, I am so thankful for Your grace and mercy toward me. It is not a cheap forgiveness that You offer to me. You forgiving me was a costly act. And so, in the same spirit, I choose to forgive [name the person] and I choose to leave behind my rights to seek revenge. I choose to place them into your hands. I choose forgiveness so that my fellowship with You can be rich and beautiful. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.