forgive, pray

There is this intimate connection between forgiveness and prayer.  Jesus says, speaking of prayer that can move mountains, when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins (Mark 11:25).  Jesus reiterates the teaching of the Prayer He taught us, forgive us...as we forgive.  Simple, but not easy, as Peter asked for an increase of faith when told that He had to forgive 70 times 7 times.

However, the context would also suggest that our holding anything in unforgiveness will hold up our mountain-moving prayer.  This is particularly so when it comes to praying that others would come to receive God's forgiveness.  In the striking story of the paralyzed man lowered on a mat through the ceiling above Jesus, notice what happened first: when Jesus saw their faith, He said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven' (Mt. 9:2, Mk. 2:5, Lk 5:20).  The man's healing would come shortly.  But his being forgiven was somehow connected to the faith of his friends, including their faith to forgive, the kind of faith that Peter sought.

We live in a culture full of unforgiveness and bitterness which defile us all (Heb. 12:15).  Jesus has designed us to be His cosmic lubricant to enable others to receive His forgiveness and to extend it to others.  Our forgiving is His Holy Oil.  Jesus anoints us with His Holy Spirit and says, as He did to His first disciples, if you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven (Jn. 20:23). We are His guardians of our portion of His galaxy.  Let's use our awesome power of forgiving prayer to release hearts that have been hardened and frozen to God, including our own.