Faith and Forgiveness

Every Sunday my 6 year old receives weekly devotionals from our church. The current topic for her devotionals is faith. Reading these verses every day has caused me to pause and think about what faith means to me personally. With all the prosperity and "name it and claim it" type preaching in the world today, it can become confusing as to why we should have faith. Do we have faith simply to have an idea in our minds of how our life should be and then God will fulfill our wish list? Is faith simply so we can live a comfortable life? What if what we have faith about does not align with the word of God or His plan for us? Is our faith alone what causes God to move on our behalf?

"So I tell you, when you pray for something, believe that you have already received it. Then it will be yours." Mark 11:24

For many the above verse is used as a reminder of God's promise to us. Looking at this one verse alone would lead us to believe God will answer us when we have enough belief. However, we cannot look at verse 24 without also continuing to read into verses 25-26...

"AND (emphasis mine) when you stand praying, forgive anyone you have anything against. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your sins."

Can we come to God believing by faith for something to happen and also harbor unforgiveness in our hearts? According to these verses, I would say it's impossible! There are so many things we need to address in our lives before sending up our wish lists to God. Matthew 6:33 is a reminder of this lesson. "But put God's kingdom first. Do what He wants you to do. Then all of those things will also be given to you."  I have found in my own life that by seeking God first, the things I once found important were suddenly irrelevant to me. When we seek God first, we begin to experience His love. We begin to comprehend His forgiveness and mercy. Just as the woman who washed Jesus' feet with oil in Luke 7:47, we see how much we have been forgiven which allows us to forgive others. 

Are you waiting for a breakthrough in an area of your life and it seems elusive? Have you been praying faith prayers for years without seeing any sign of a change happening? Are you also harboring offense and unforgiveness against someone in your life? If you have received the forgiveness of God, you MUST release the person who has caused you harm and pain. There is no way around it! Forgiving does not condone the actions of your offender or say what they did was okay. In the same way, God's forgiveness of us is not an endorsement of our sin. Even though we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He didn't wait for us to run to Him with an apology before He hung on a cross. 

I challenge you today to examine your heart for areas of hurt and pain that you are holding onto. Before praying for the next item on your with list, pray that God will help you to release the person you have been holding in the prison of unforgiveness. The reality is in most cases the person you think you are hurting is not even aware of how deeply they have hurt you. The only person trapped in this prison is you. Why waste another day preventing God from moving in your life? He's waiting on you!