Brenda Connors Devotionals With My Blue Thread Sisters

Mark 11:25-26 (Matt. 6:14, 15 )

Forgiveness and Prayer

25 ¶ “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

26 “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

——I can tell you that distracted people don’t do well. A distracted driver can miss a car in front of them stopping and slam into them, go into the ditch, or die in a fiery crash. Once I was in Mexico and my friend from Mexico about halfway into the mission trip told me she was praying for me because I seemed “off”. I realized it was true I was interested in this guy and it had me distracted. Once she told me that I let go of the “guy troubles” and poured myself into the mission.

This is why Jesus takes a moment to share the two verses about forgiveness and prayer. Not processing forgiveness to a person is an anchor on our feet pulling us under. It is in no way resolving the situation, but taking ourselves out of the fight. I have heard it said so many times, forgiveness is what we do for ourselves, in order to clear our heart and mind from being distracted. David Guzik said it so nicely:

The forgiven heart will forgive others. If we have hard, unforgiving hearts, it calls into question if we have ever received or appreciated the forgiveness God offers us.

I know we hang onto things because we think it is our right. We have been wronged and we need to let the world know. With a rallying cry we gain others to walk this anger road with us. It feels redeeming to have others agree with you, but it is just making the stink more rank.

 Allowing ourselves to forgive this person instead of putting a hit squad together is really the only way to freedom. I have talked about anger letters and forgiveness letters, where you pour out your anger onto paper or on the computer. After it is all out on the table, you write a forgiveness letter. One of the most powerful tools there is for helping ourselves process through to forgiveness.

It really is true that this unforgiveness can seep into every part of our lives and is like drinking a lard smoothie. It is like a hot potato, get rid of it before it burns you.