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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 11:25-26 (NLT)
It’s tucked away, almost hidden, within Jesus’ teaching on prayer. The disciples were looking for answers. Jesus had just stated that using the power of prayer the disciples had the ability to move mountains. Then, almost as though He read their minds He answered a question that hadn’t been answered.
It’s as if one (or more) of the disciples was thinking: “I pray. I have faith in you. I believe. I don’t want to move mountains. I just want to understand my kids!” Jesus tells them that to have real power, to see God move mightily in your life and in the lives of others around you, here is the secret. Forgive.
Unresolved conflict and anger bind us and our prayer lives. When we harbor grudges, judgmental attitudes and a critical spirit against someone else it keeps Gods power from manifesting itself through us.
It’s interesting to note what Jesus doesn’t say in this passage. He doesn’t tell the disciples to “Go and have a conversation with the person and tell them you forgive them.” His statement concerns His followers DURING their prayer time. While they are praying, during the very process of their time with the Heavenly Father, forgive.
Forgiving others does not condone what they have done to you. If you have been abused, especially emotionally, the abuser won’t admit to anything anyway. It doesn’t require any action on the part of the perpetrator of your wound.
Forgiveness of others is between you and God. No one else needs to be involved. While there may be times when God will eventually lead you to confront the person you need to forgive, it really is an agreement between you and your Heavenly Father to release yourself from their grip of hate, anger or pain.
Forgiveness frees you. When you are angry at someone, it could be because of some intentional act on their part, or something that they did unintentionally, it causes a wound that refuses to heal. Forgiveness is a healing salve that comforts and soothes. Forgiveness is for your benefit, not the benefit of anyone else.
Forgiveness is humanly initiated, yet supernaturally accomplished. Sometimes the pain we endure is so great that we have to come to the Father over and over again to confess our inability to let go of the pain that was caused. The first step to healing is to confess our pain and anger to God and ask Him to empower you to forgive. From that point forward it is His working in you, and in the situation to free you from the horrific bondage of a wounded soul.
Forgiveness takes time. It isn’t some magic oil that you apply once to the wound and it’s gone. When you bear a grudge or have been hurt in some way it is like a physical wound, in some cases worse than that. Just as the wound take time to heal, forgiveness takes time to work its way through the pain. Be patient. Don’t allow the abuse or mistakes of your past to imprison you. Let the healing salve of forgiveness free you for all God has in store.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. I never thought I’d have to admit to you that I harbor hatred towards others. Some of my hatred is because of what has been done to my loved ones. Some of it is because of direct or indirect attacks from others. Some of it, I confess, is a result of my inability to remember that I’m your child and I’ve allowed others to attack who I am in you. Help me to forgive. Empower me with your Spirit today to free myself from the prison others have me in. Show me grace so that I can show it to others. Thank you for loving me. Amen.
“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)
From the very beginning of time, before the Creator-God formed the world from vast nothingness, He sought relationship. That’s why he created the world, so that he could enjoy the beauty of the trees and mountains and the pristine sea. He created man so that He could share His love with someone in His own image and together they could enjoy relationship. He created woman so that man would have an equal partner, a helper, a confidant, so they too would be able to enjoy-relationship.
Jehovah approaches the prophet Isaiah with a message to His people Israel. Because of their sin they had been forced into exile to endure the harsh rule of foreign kings. The land promised was desolate. The people were mistreated. Yet in the midst of their exile they still refused to change their ways.
In spite of their refusal, or inability to follow His commands Jehovah’s message to Israel, and to us, is this. Forget about the past mistakes. Forget about your poor decisions. Forget about the countless times you did what you knew you shouldn’t do. Come to me for forgiveness and I will forgive you.
He says to us,”I, yes I alone” because no one else is qualified to forgive us. Our sin is not against other people. Our sin is against Him. We sin against Him when we hurt other people (knowingly or not). We sin against Him when we ignore His commands or take the relationship He offers us for granted. Yet in the face of all our weakness and rebellion He offers us a clean slate.
This forgiveness isn’t a result of anything we did, or can do. His forgiveness isn’t even for our sake. This forgiveness is for His benefit so that He can once again enjoy the relationship He so much longs to have with us.
This forgiveness is not temporary of conditional. He states that He will ‘blot out your sins’. To blot out gives the image of a ledger book with a debt to be paid. A debt far too large to be resolved. A hopelessly large debt. Yet He takes, as it were, a huge rubberstamp and stamps the word “PAID” across the ledger in bold, blood red letters. Your sin will never more come to mind. He won’t as you travel the journey look back and say “You don’t learn do you? You did this five years, three months, two days and four hours ago too!” Nope. Won’t happen. It’s gone. Forgotten.
What a marvelous promise. What a wonderful hope. We don’t deserve it. We can’t earn it. It’s all because of love. Don’t let sins of today or of the past tie you down. Ask Him to forgive you and let it go. Don’t let fears of the future keep you from pressing on to work towards your dreams. Refuse to allow others to keep you imprisoned by reminding you of your faults. Father God loves you and made you just the way you are. He wants to help you.
PRAYER: Father God, once again I must come to you. I confess to you that even though I’ve been here before, I am still struggling with sin in my life. I’ve ignored you, failed to walk in relationship with you and even doubted you exist at times. Yet I’m tired of the pain. Tired of the guilt. Tired of the anger I can’t control. Please forgive me for the sins that plague me and help me to move on because of your wonderful, undying grace. In Jesus name I pray, Amen
Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Psalm 112:1-2
A tree is known by its fruit. If you walk up to an apple tree there is little chance you will find an orange! Peach trees will not deliver grapefruit! Cherry trees make lousy pear trees. It is both humbling and exciting to realize that according to scripture, just as trees produce fruit according to their heritage, fathers have a huge effect on the way their children turn out.
While it is true that there are some exceptions, in most cases the faith a father exhibits will eventually be shown in the lives of his children. A man that holds tightly to the word of God and builds a relationship with Jesus Christ will have a much better chance to see his children follow in the heritage of faith he leaves behind.
The Psalmist clearly states that the man who ‘finds great delight’ in what God has to say will see his children greatly bless the land. As fathers, each of us is responsible to make sure we are in God’s word daily and praying regularly and specifically for our families. Our children need male role models to show them the importance of daily communication with God. Healthy physical relationships will not happen unless we have first taken care of building a healthy spiritual relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
While Psalm 112 is clear about the necessity of following God’s word for the sake of our children, it is interesting to ‘see’ what isn’t mentioned. There is no mention of the importance of forcing our children to follow a certain set of religious dogmas and/or traditions. In fact, there is no mention of us forcing our children to do anything. The implication is that they learn the importance of walking with God by our example, by the words we speak and the way we treat others, especially their mother.
Another thing that isn’t mentioned here is that we as parents, especially fathers here, are not responsible for making sure our children conform to the mold we have determined they should follow. Our mission as fathers is to provide as many healthy experiences for our children as possible so that they can develop healthy, well rounded lives through diverse experiences.
Being a successful father has nothing to do with the job you have, the amount of money you make, the church you attend or the number of toys in your yard. Being a successful father is measured simply by the relationship you have with God and how that plays out in the lives of your children.
PRAYER: Father God. I thank you for being the ultimate example of fatherhood for me. I confess to you that I’ve let my relationship with you slip and as a result I’ve put my children in danger of spiritual harm. Forgive me for my apathy and distractions. Empower me to draw close to you so that my children will see an example of You in my life through love, grace and patience with them and others. In Jesus name, Amen.
The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. Psalm 103:13 (NLT)
One of the reasons we, as parents, can at times become exasperated with our children is that we fear they will make the same harmful decisions we made when we were young. It’s as if, as we are growing up, there is this voice inside of us saying, “My kid will never do this!” We enter adult life with all sorts of dreams about what we can become. Before long we find ourselves as parents and realize it’s too late to make those dreams on our own. To compensate for our own shortcomings we resolve that our children will not travel down the same detour in life. They will have a better life.
The Psalmist likens God to a loving father who is tender and compassionate. When we read that comparison we may see an image in our mind of a father holding an infant or walking hand in hand with a child down a quiet, softly lit forest path while flowers bloom and birds sing cheerfully in the trees. Then reality sets in and we come back to consciousness just as our teenager enters the house and announces he wrecked the car!
It’s humbling to realize that our reaction to this event is what shows our child what God is like. When we hear the statement “God is like our father.” What images come to mind? Do you see love and compassion or anger and coldness? When you think of God as your father, how does he talk to you? Does he talk with sarcasm and criticism or acceptance and encouragement?
It’s not surprising in our society that people have a misconception of what God is like. We are all wired to see our fathers as reflections of what God is like. The unfortunate fact is that fathers are human. No one, not even Jesus Christ, had a father that was perfect in every way. As a result we can see God the way our fathers were, sometimes angry, aloof, insensitive, selfish, and apathetic or the like.
- Earthly fathers may fail us, but your Heavenly Father NEVER WILL;
- Earthly fathers may leave us, but your Heavenly Father promises to always be with you;
- Earthly fathers break promises, but your Heavenly Father always does what He says He’ll do;
- Earthly fathers may become preoccupied, but your Heavenly Father always has you at the center of his attention;
- Earthly fathers may be disappointed in us; your Heavenly Father is always proud of who you are, even when you fail!
- Earthly fathers may become angry with us, your Heavenly Fathers anger is reserved for the actions of sin and the enemy of our souls;
- Earthy father’s may cheat, your Heavenly Father remains faithful to what is right.
- Earthly fathers may forget, your Heavenly Father never forgets you. He doesn’t forget birthdays or ball games or special event of your life.
- Earthly fathers may put work ahead of you, your Heavenly Father always has you in first place in His mind.
If you are struggling today with the wounds left by an earthly father who left you scarred emotionally or physically please realize your Heavenly Father longs to show you a true and loving relationship through His son Jesus christ. If you read the list above and realize how wonderful your earthly father really is thank God (and your dad) for being the man that he is.
PRAYER: Father God, I confess to you that I say you are my ‘Father’ way to flippantly without realizing what that really means. I thank you for who you are as my Heavenly Father and for always being there to lift me up, encourage me, guide me and forgive me. I pray you would help me to be a parent and child that shows others how loving you are. Amen.
The Lord gave me this message: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NLT)
When the Lord came to Jeremiah and spelled out the direction his life was going to go he gave him two great promises that are hard to comprehend. First of all, the creator/sustainer of the universe told Jeremiah (and us) that He knew him intimately, even before his conception. God knows every hidden corner of our mental, emotional, and spiritual lives. Our needs, our desires, our fears. He knows us.
The second thing He tells us in this verse is that, again before we were even conceived, He had set us apart for service. Just as He appointed Jeremiah to be prophet before his birth, He has appointed each of us for service to him.
That doesn’t mean we’ll all be pastors or missionaries or great, famous spiritual giants. Simply stated, God has a personal plan for each of us in life. He’s appointed us for that plan. Individuals are appointed, not groups. Since God knows us so intimately then the plan that He has for us is beautifully, custom fit just for us according to our gifts, talents, and abilities. His plan isn’t necessarily custom fit to our comfort zone! He may ask us to do things we don’t think we can do, but He knows us best and will never ask us to do things we are unable to do.
Because of His great love for us, God also gives us the right to choose. If we grow in relationship with Him we will know the right way to go. The problem is, each of us is human and tend to stray, or rebel from the way God wants us to go. When we wander away from God does that mean His plan can’t work or that we can’t come back? NEVER!
Just as God is never surprised with the birth of a child, He is never surprised by our failure to follow His guidance. It doesn’t matter how far you have strayed from God, nothing you do can keep Him from fulfilling his plan in your life. We may think our failures are a side trip but with God there is no such thing as a side trip, only learning experiences.
The important question each of us needs to ask when we’ve wandered from God is NOT “How did I get here?” That part isn’t the most important thing. The most important question we should ask ourselves is, “How can I use this experience to glorify God and uplift others.”
The Lord God of Heaven, the creator/sustainer of the universe loves you. He not only had your emotional/spiritual/physical make-up planned before time, He set you apart to serve Him. The best way to do that is to continue growing close to Him and trusting Him no matter how many times you fail. He will never give up on you or the plan He personally designed just for you.
PRAYER: Father God. Once again I’m in awe of your greatness and loving compassion. I’m so weak, so frail and so rebellious. I want my plans to succeed even when I know Your way is best. Please empower me with your Holy Spirit to walk close to you so I can see what you want from me on a daily basis. During those times when I stray I ask that you would show me the way back to you and to the perfect, pleasing plan you have for me. Thank you for loving me the way you do. Amen
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 