First Forgive

I have known the power of forgiveness for many years. I learned lots about the depth of The Lord’s forgiveness of men when it was clear that I needed to forgive some people who had hurt me deeply. I can’t begin to put into words the depth of my pain when my spirit was crushed. I remember coming to terms with how much I had hurt the Lord with my sin. When I began to try to wrap my head around the depth of His forgiveness, I was able to then forgive.

Jesus is teaching His disciples as they walk along the road. He is teaching them to pray bold prayers before the Lord. He is teaching the deep value of faith, but then He says that forgiveness is first. Check this out….

²² Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. ²³ I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. ²⁴ I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. ²⁵ 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 11:22-25 NLT)

I don’t deserve forgiveness, but He gives it anyway.

I don’t deserve restoration, but He restores me anyway.

I don’t deserve His Presence, but He’s here.

I learned that when I forgive others, it’s a gift that I give the other person AND myself.

The people that have hurt me, have often moved on and they’re not thinking about what they did to me. I am the one who constantly thinks about it and it hurts me. My hurting heart can start healing when I forgive others who’ve hurt me.

I think my prayer life is crippled if I don’t forgive. How can I ask for forgiveness, when I’m not willing to forgive – seems hypocritical to me for sure.  If I can learn to check my pride and put it away, my prayers become powerful.

Pressing On!

Dwayne