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
In the book of Mark, Jesus tells His disciples that if they pray really believing that their prayers will be answered, they could pray for anything and it would be theirs.
I can imagine them all lighting up and looking at each other with excitement.
Until.
They heard the second part of Jesus’ statement- the part about forgiving others before going to God in prayer.
All too often, we want forgiveness and mercy for ourselves and justice for others.
When we make huge mistakes, we pray to God to forgive us and we try to move on, hoping that we’re redeemed in the eyes of others as well.
But if someone does something to us, we have a tendency to hold on to the transgression, never giving the person grace or allowing them to grow from their mistakes.
But as followers of Christ, we’re called to a higher standard than that.
We must realize that we are not more righteous than anyone else.
And if God forgives us freely for the atrocious things we do, we should learn to forgive others in the way that we want to be forgiven.
In fact, Jesus said that if we don’t forgive other people, God won’t forgive us either!
God wants us to cultivate a loving and forgiving heart, because in doing so, we are truly living in His will and embracing His Son Jesus.
It is only when we truly forgive that our prayers will be heard and honored.
So if there is anyone in our lives that we are struggling to forgive, we must lift them up in prayer continuously, and ask God to free us from the spirit of unforgiveness so that we can be blessed with everything that He’s been waiting to give us.
Be blessed,
Alexia
Prayer: God, I know your word says that we should forgive, but I’m seriously having a hard time doing that. Help me to see people who’ve hurt me the way that you see them. Help me to release any bitterness, anger, or resentment towards anyone for things that they’ve done, so that I can truly live in your Spirit of love and honor you with my heart. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.
thank you! 🙏🏾✨🤍✨🙏🏾
Forgiveness can seem so difficult, especially if we feel that someone has truly wronged us. But when we hold on to unforgiveness it hinders us and our prayers. As you said in the last devotion.. there is none righteous, no, not one. We have to realize that we all fall short at one point or another. Ultimately I want God to forgive me so as hard as it may seem I’m going to forgive others and place healthy boundaries in that relationship. We grow so much when we have forgiveness in our hearts because when we done it continues to be a stronghold over us.