Faith and Forgiveness
For those who have been consistent readers of Prayer Nuggets, you know that praying in faith has been a recurring theme. It seems like there is always another way to look at faith and how it affects our prayers. So, as I read a very familiar passage in my Bible recently, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a connection of faith, forgiveness, and prayer that I’d not noticed before.
Mark 11:22-26 AMP “22 And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. 23 Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. 24 For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]. 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your failings and shortcomings.”
Usually, when you hear a message using this passage of Scripture, either verses 22 through 24, or verses 25 and 26 are taught. I don’t think I have ever heard them taught together, though. We have to read it as if Jesus is talking to us. He did not start a new subject when He brought up forgiving and being forgiven, so let’s look a little more closely to see some of what Jesus was trying to convey.
First (verses 22-23,) Jesus tells all of His disciples, including us, that with the mountain-moving faith of God inside, we can speak to the mountain to be thrown into the sea and it will be done for us. We’ll picture this as being the second floor of a department store, one we cannot reach without doing two things: starting on the first floor, and going up the escalator. Let’s skip to verses 25-26, which teach a powerful message concerning forgiveness. What is really required for us to receive and give the forgiveness of the Father? Humility, which is our bowing down as low as possible, recognizing who we are not and Who God is. This very low position we will think of as being on the first floor – ground level. When we are here, we can look up and see a little of the second floor – in this case, we see what others have asked for and received – but we are not actually there yet. With verse 24, Jesus makes a permanent connection between the first and second floors with an escalator – prayer. The true prayer of faith, for which answers will be received just as they were asked, will only come from those who have humbled themselves before the Father in repentance for their own sins, and in forgiveness of others. They’ve not tried vainly to reach the second floor from the outside in their own efforts, but have come in through the doors of humility and forgiveness, and have access to the escalator of prayer right up to that faith of God that moves mountains! Their prayers are fully effective.
We’ve frequently dealt with the issue of faith in prayer, and we have considered forgiveness in prayer. When Jesus inextricably links these two attributes with prayer as He does in this passage, He makes it clear that what is in our heart will either be a connector to Him and His faith residing in us, or a source of disconnection. If we are not walking in forgiveness, we can pray all we want, but those prayers will not be effective and we will not receive that for which we ask, because we’re attempting to get to the place of faith by our own means. God will not be able to move in the way He so desires to move in and through our lives and prayers on behalf of ourselves and others. Let’s humble ourselves so we will pray in faith, not hindering God’s plans.
Lord, I ask You to expose those places in us where we need forgiveness. Bring conviction by Your Holy Spirit and lead us to repentance. But I also ask You to bring to our awareness each one we are holding anything at all against, and help us release them by forgiving them as You have. Thank You for moving mightily through our humble prayers of faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
© Copyright 2006 Kay V. Stocking
